The Anarchists
by Materia-Blade
Summary: Cowritten By Materia Blade & Ozzallos. Two Men, eternal rivals, wake up together knowing no one, in lives that are not their own. May the world weep in joy and terror, for chaos has returned. A Ranma x Sailor Moon Crossover.
1. O

_Disclaimer: We, in no way shape or form, own Ranma ½ or Sailor Moon._

**The Anarchists**

A_ Ranma ½ _Fanfiction by_  
Materia-Blade _and_ Ozzallos_

**_- - - - - O - - - - -_**

Doubt. Betrayal. Imprisonment. Execution.

The Princess of Pluto paced the length of her cell, a bleak white tiled floor six meters by six meters illuminated by the dull red glow of laser light along the perimeter. Beyond those lethal vertical lines of light was nothing but crimson shadow and the barely distinguishable outlines of the Queen's own in full crystalline battle armor.

_It wasn't supposed to be like this!_ She balked internally, trying to piece together just how she had gotten to this doomed temporal juncture. The finery of her fuku had been replaced by a ragged slip, stained from days without bath or comfort while representing just how dire the situation had become. In less then twenty four hours, she would be executed for high treason, all but sealing the fate of this timeline and sentencing the human race to… Serenity.

How had they fallen so far?! How had she, the guardian of time itself let things slide this close to the precipice? She was Pluto! How—

No… The green haired woman stopped her pacing. She had a name before Pluto. One all but lost to the annuals of history. One the Queen herself had gone through great lengths to supplant. Quiet claws had tried to snatch it from her psyche, but after nearly ten millennia at her post, ten millennia that she was able to remember at least… that name would not fade as easily has it had with the others. But the claws were still there… Quietly digging… attempting to pull the last thing she could truly call her own from her very mind.

_Damn her_. In her mind she waged a private war with the pull of Serenity. A battle for her very free will.

It was a mental tug of war to keep her very identity from being snatched away, one she had barely managed to hold on to… and now it was about to cost her life. But at least she knew who she was. She had a name and with it, a weapon. A final—

"Still brooding over the past, Pluto?"

It was a simple question, but with it Setsuna's embattled mind took heavy blow. A rush of will to please and obey this woman- this _goddess_ -brought down from the heavens that she had to fight nearly to tears to keep herself from succumbing.

Her head turned slowly, yet fearfully, wide red eyes finding the Queen herself. The woman had silently breached the insubstantial bars of light and her very senses, moving within a meter of her person without notice. There had been no footsteps, no sound. None of the light breeze associated with the passing of a moving body. She was serenity, completely one with the environment around her.

Pluto swallowed the shock and glared back, as if the act would shatter the tranquility surrounding the woman. _Wishing_ it would. "My name is Setsuna Meiou. I _remember_."

"A name that will disturb the peace of crystal Tokyo." The woman shook her head sadly, twin silver streamers swaying with the effect. Her glowing white gown flowed gracefully around her, attuned to an ethereal wind without making a sound. "You would do well to let it go. It's not too late."

The tranquility of the woman in front of her began to invade her further than ever before, wrapping around her body and mind, creating peace. There was no dissention. There was only Serenity. At last she could feel at peace with herself. If flowed through her being weaving a singular identity through her. She was the Princess of Pluto, the Queen's hand, forever loyal to—

"_No!"_ Ragged nails clutched at her head pulling lengths of matted green hair with it. It hurt like hell, but the Mistress of Time had seen worse in her years and the pain helped to focus her. "I already have a name! I'm Meiou! Setsuna Meiou!"

"And that is why you will have to die." The Queen sighed, affecting disappoint. "The peace must be maintained."

The magic was still working its way through her brain and the princess had to bite down on her lip in order to keep from agreeing with the woman without a second thought. Blood trickled down her lip and she glared back defiantly. "Your peace executed men for shouting in the audience chamber! This isn't the way it's supposed to be! Your mother—!"

"My mother gave her life to maintain peace," Serenity nodded sagely. "It is a lesson I have learned well. Crystal Tokyo—"

"Is wrong!" The ex-Senshi screamed back. "Don't you see!? I remember! It wasn't supposed to turn out this way!"

"Everything turned out the way it was supposed to." Serenity reaffirmed the cloak of peace around her rippling ever so slightly with discontent. The tension solidified as the Sea of Tranquility faced off against the Rock of Ages, neither woman backing down. Setsuna Meiou stared into those impassive blue eyes and it was all she could do not to crumble before her queen and grovel in the purity of her aura. Somehow she held it together. Held on to her name. The past may have been a magically induced haze, but she would not surrender _that_.

Not ever again.

"So be it." Serenity's features hardened, the peace turning to frigid calm. "Tomorrow your life is forfeit. Good bye, old friend. Tell mother I said thank you."

The White Queen turned on a heel and strode back into the shadows, passing through the laser lined cage as if the flesh-searing lights didn't exist. Setsuna knew better. She had tried to force her way past the lines of red light once before, only to be introduced to excruciating pain as laser carved into her flesh. She had survived the event only because of the residual planetary bindings, healing her slowly as the Queen sat near by, lecturing her like a small child as she smoldered on the ground.

The outline of the queen's form faded and she knew once more she was alone, save the laser's light and guards just beyond. Setsuna uncurled her fist and strands of green hair drifted to the cold tile below. Everything was wrong. She felt it in every cell of her body but the reason continued to slip away like ice. She was certain now that their identities had been taken from them, their very personas tempered into the queen's desire for total peace. _When had their names been taken? _Setsuna watched the green wisps settle onto the bleak tiling of her cell. Even that fact had been lost to the mental tampering that had undoubtedly occurred, but there was one thing she knew...

The Crystal Tokyo she could remember was a symbol of hope. A symbol of survival and the perseverance of the human spirit, but somewhere along the way it had become a thing of despair, achieving peace through absolute subservience and small, quiet deaths. Where had it all gone wrong? And why had it taken her so long to see how wrong this hellish empire was? Ten millennia of subservience to the Queen and only _now_ did she see the wrong of this existence? Why here? Why now?

Setsuna's gaze drifted from the floor to the shadows. Like her memories, they held no answers. When had Crystal Tokyo turned from the savior of mankind to a utopia built on blood and unquestioning obedience? When had Usagi taken their very names from them? Why had she all of a sudden begun to question the pure and unstained motives of Usag—!

_Usagi…!_

The name blasted through the piecemeal that was her memories and landed upon her heart like a sledgehammer. Pictures began to flash before her eyes… A school girl, the Senshi, her mother…

_Oh god!_ Setsuna Meiou fell to her knees and tears began to flow in quiet sobs. _I've failed you Serenity! I've failed you and your daughter! She's become the very thing you sought to seal away, your highness!_

The crying continued unabated for several minutes before she could collect herself, steeling herself against the tragedy she was only now coming to grips with. It wasn't too late. Even stripped of her planetary bindings, she still had something left. No one could be bound to the gates for so long and come away unchanged. It wouldn't be enough to confront the woman directly, but there were other ways. Ways she would never see coming.

Setsuna nodded to herself and sat on the cold, barren floor, crossing her legs. It would require preparation and would more than likely be her last living act as a Senshi, but the Queen would never see this one coming. That and she had a weapon.

Her name.

Both of their names.

* * *

Sorrow. 

_No, that was too strong of word_, Setsuna Meiou, Princess of Pluto amended as she was escorted to the center of the Queen's audience chambers by a dozen heavily armed crystal encased soldiers. Each carried enough firepower to ensure her compliance or death, the latter of which would be a moot point in the next few minutes anyway, she reflected bitterly. No, regret was a more appropriate descriptive for the emotions playing across the faces of the Senshi gathered around her Highness.

Soon they would forget the green haired woman. She would be replaced and her formal title re-issued. She would be slain before them and the girls would feel a small measure of loss before the utopia around them reasserted itself and life carried on.

_Not that they would have a choice in the matter_, she thought bitterly. Not with all the enchantments the Queen had somehow woven through all of their brains. Even with her imminent death, the claws were still digging into her soul, attempting to pry away the last thing she truly owned. In some ways, she was flattered that the Queen was going through so much trouble when the hour was so late. Setsuna made eye contact with the Queen and smiled grimly, even if her insides turned to liquid at the very sight of her majesty. If the woman expected her to grovel and plead her fealty in her last moments, she was _sadly _mistaken.

The guard around her halted and peeled away from her person, leaving the Princess alone at the center of the room. Around her was the finest the Crystal Tokyo had to offer. Above her massive crystal chandeliers defied gravity. Priceless works of art hung upon the wall and the Queen herself sat in an intricately cut crystal throne that refracted the sunlight in a spectacular manner, further augmenting her aura of absolute tranquility. Setsuna's eyes wandered down, finding the familiar ivory-white marble floor inlayed with a giant crescent moon, the symbol of Crystal Tokyo.

How fitting she was about to die upon it.

The Queen nodded and Mercury stepped forward, her blue fuku rippling with the motion. _Like a puppet_, Setsuna added mentally as the woman with long wavy blue hair unfolded a digital scroll.

"Princess Pluto, you have been tried and found guilty of High Treason to Queen Serenity the Fifth and the citizens of Crystal Tokyo with secondary charges of disturbing the peace and inciting rebellion. The penalty is death."

On the word death, the soldiers around her snapped to attention, the Hellbores they carried coming into vertical alignment with their shoulders. The princess paid them no mind, opting to continue staring down the Queen herself as Mercury returned to the ranks of Senshi.

Queen Serenity smiled benevolently, rising off her throne and stepping past her champions. The pressure on Setsuna's mind increased exponentially with her proximity to the Queen but she held. She remembered her name. She remembered what Crystal Tokyo was supposed to be and she remembered her. The Queen would not take those in her last moments of life.

"Princess Pluto, my friend. You stand convicted of these egregious crimes. Do you have any last words before your sentence is carried out?"

Even as the Queen spoke, more subtle words were drifting through Setsuna's mind. Tender words, as if from a mother to daughter. _Pluto… you can end this! Return to me! I love you, my child. Please do not make me send you into the dark void. I only wish that you return to your queen. Your friend. Please Pluto… Please…_

The words would not touch her. Not anymore. Not ever again.

Her smile reappeared. "I do, _Usagi_."

The words in her mind ceased in an instant. For the first time in her memory, Setsuna Meiou watched the shell of tranquility crack, "What did you call me?"

The kind, gentle words of comfort and pleading changed in a flash to the sharp displeasure of the Queen, rolling across her psyche like a tidal wave. Even so, Setsuna held. The knowledge imminent death did wonders against mental manipulations. "I said, I do have something to say, Usagi Tsukino."

A frown flickered across Serenity the Fifth's visage for a split second before being replaced by the mask of neutral peace. It didn't matter to Setsuna. She had seen it even if nobody else had. In the last moments of her life, it was a victory.

"_That_," Serenity returned in a quiet, calm voice, "is the past; A past that has no place in the here and now."

"It has everything to do with the here and now." Setsuna replied. "You have perverted the very ideal of Crystal Tokyo. Taken our names… our memories… You are the very thing your mother sought to destroy all those years ago."

Serenity the fifth shook her head sadly. "I have revived her vision of peace. This is my world now. My empire to shape and mold as I wish. The galaxy is my birthright, Pluto, and I shall bring peace and unity to it, no matter the cost."

"My _name_ is _Setsuna Meiou_." She ground out the words, causing the monarch pause. "And you have become a monster. You've taken so much of our lives, and as the Guardian of Time, I have failed."

"Sadly, you have completely failed—"

"An oversight I will now rectify."

Serenity the Fifth stepped back as she felt the former Senshi gather power around her and smiled like a parent indulging a small child. "Even if I had left your bindings intact, there is little you could hope to accomplish. I have the power to destroy the galaxy at a whim, which leaves me to wonder what you hope to accomplish with your meager reserves?"

"You've grown so much, Usagi, yet learned so little." The green haired Senshi shook her head sadly, and closed her eyes. "I am time apart, older than you could possibly imagine. I cannot allow you to violate our souls further."

The ex-Senshi began to glow with pink power and Serenity stood idly by, watching the display with fascination. She could order the guards to shoot her old friend down where she stood, but morbid curiosity kept the impulse in check as the woman continued to build on a core of magical energy.

"Pluto, stop this…" Neptune stepped forward with a disappointed expression on her face. "It is an undignified display of—"

"I remember you too, Michiru." Setsuna smiled fondly, never opening her eyes. Serenity frowned, noticing the Senshi's face beginning to crease through the magic weaving around her. Were those…? "I have failed… all of us. But I remember now and I will put things right."

"What are you _doing_, Pluto…?" Serenity the Fifth cocked her head, staring at the green haired woman's visage. The woman was gaining wrinkles before her very eyes, as if time were catching up with the woman.

Setsuna opened her eyes, the lines around those red orbs making her look twenty years older. "Sacrifice, Usagi. I cannot hope to stand against you, but I have remembered… remembered those who can." The wrinkles continued to claim her face, turning into small canyons with every passing second. By the end of her explanation, she looked nearly eighty years old and showed no signs of remission while power continued to coarse around her. One of the Senshi gasped. Old age was simply unheard of in the society of perfection that was Crystal Tokyo and even the Queen seemed to be somewhat repulsed at the sight.

"Guards."

The soldiers lining the perimeter of the room brought their weapons to bear, sighting the lethal devices onto Setsuna. Green hair had already passed from her head, leaving a gray that started out vibrant and began to dull, dropping to the ground like fall leaves. "Don't worry, Usagi… The job has been… done for you." The graying old woman rasped and dropped to her knees as her strength failed her. "As it has sustained me, time now takes me… And brings them forward; the chaos to your order."

The pink glow of power began to fade and die off. Setsuna's head inclined gracefully, her gray hair covering her face as her body slackened. The pink flair of power died off completely, leaving silence to reign in the room.

Venus stared incredulously. "Is she…?"

Even the Queen hesitated for a moment before summoning the will to step up to her former protector. Her fingers moved to brush away the remaining thin strands of hair only to watch her body turn to ashen dust with the action. Chunks flaked away and the corpse literally fell apart at her feet. It was over in seconds. No cloths, no hair, no jewelry. Just dust on the image of a glorious silver crescent moon.

Setsuna Meiou, Princess of Pluto and the last living guardian of the old Silver Millennium, was dead.

* * *

"Sad really, that Pluto had to be put down like that. Who would have thought she would cause so much trouble, considering how long she worked to build this nation and set the White Queen on top?" Mars said conversationally, as she lay down sporadically on the large bed in her room. Her legs were kicking in the air lazily as she spoke with her friend and partner. 

"It doesn't matter. She became an enemy of the Queen. We are her hand and do as she commands, Mars." Mercury replied. "You know that. My loyalties are to her. If she told me to capture and imprison you, I would, just as I did with Pluto. I'm no child anymore. What the queen wants is what is best for the empire. I would follow her to death."

"As would I…" Mars replied, solemnly. She hadn't really wanted the conversation to go down this sort of road. Mercury was a little difficult to talk to sometimes. Rarely, but sometimes. In the back of her mind though, Mars worried. _What if she asked me to kill my children? Something as far as that? Would I do it?_

She wasn't sure if she should feel horror or satisfaction at the answer. Yes. She would do anything for her queen. _Anything_. Once they had been but mere friends, bound together by saving the world from threats. They had been on almost equal ground at that time. Equal in power and strength of mind. But now the woman had changed. She had become Mars's savior and her queen. The queen had saved her life hundreds of times. Revived her and healed her. Her wisdom and judgment had become legendary as had she. The white queen who could heal any injury. Heal even death. Even Saturn couldn't do that.

Mars and Mercury and all the others… even Pluto, owed the White Queen their own lives a hundred fold. And a hundred fold they would give them to her.

All of them… except Pluto for some strange reason.

It helped that none of her current children knew they were her descendents as well. But Mars did keep an eye on them from time to time.

"And for the queen, I would do anything. We are her hand. As you say Mercury." Mars replied in a much less solemn tone. It always did help to remember how much they owed the Queen.

Mercury grinned widely at the uplifted tone and nodded, sparking a quick change of subject. "So. Found anyone yet Mars? I know there has to be another out there who can deal with you and your fire!"

Mars instantly blushed as red as the planet she was named for, not ready for such a swift change of topic. "I… well I… uhm… not yet, Mercury." Mars stuttered.

"Heh heh. You should find someone! It's been what… thirty years since Krarum passed? You need yourself a man! A young one. Fresh little millenier! They are always the sweetest!" Mercury said in a happy tone. Rei simply stared at her indignantly.

Strange how much the world had changed. _Little millennier?_ Six or seven thousand years ago Mars had never thought that anyone a millennia old as _little_. Another change. Back then, she had been the _forward _one by comparison to Mercury, as far as love went. Then. Love was encouraged most openly now. Both she _and_ Mercury were _quite_ conservative by comparison to most residents of the galaxy.

"Hah! Millenniers are even too old for my taste Mercury! You know that! I prefer them fresh from the womb. Forty or fifty would suffice." Mars replied haughtily, to which Mercury simply gave a 'suit yourself' look.

"Keep that up and you might find yourself dating a teen? Eh?" Jupiter cut in suddenly, appearing from the doorway.

Mars shivered even as she gave a revolted look at Jupiter. "A teen!? A _teen!?_ That's disgusting Jupiter!" If Mercury was forward then Jupiter was ten times as much. Venus topped them all but none of them had seen Venus for quite some time. To actually _suggest _dating a _teen, _though?! It was akin to rape!

"Just a suggestion." Jupiter said, still teasingly. "I heard about what happened to Pluto. I could hardly believe it. Treason? Pluto? I'd sooner believe I was a man than believe treason from the Princess of Time."

"She has been dead for almost two days Jupiter." Mercury replied quickly. "It took you long enough to get here…"

Almost angered but not quite, Jupiter retorted, "I was busy in the new Planets! You know they got a rebellion going down there. Heh. Fools. They will all understand sooner or later. Only another hundred years or so and we should control the entire galaxy! Plus, I never liked Pluto anyways. Didn't even really care much. Just surprised."

"The same here. I always thought she was a bit too mysterious. Like maybe she wanted the power that rightfully belongs to the Queen? Guess now we know." Mars replied with a sneer. "What do you think, Mercury?"

Mercury was strangely silent for some reason.

"I was thinking…" Mercury began almost fearfully, "about Mi… Michiru."

Mars gulped. After a moment of thought she began in what she hoped was an uplifting tone. "Th-that… was her name… wasn't it? I… I don't know what I would do if I had another name that I'd forgotten! Neptune was devastated! She's been with the queen for almost two days straight… I've never seen her so terrified. It must have felt like having her entire identity ripped out! Thank god, we know our names, right?"

"Do we?" Mercury stated.

Utter fear gripped Mars like a mental fist latching around her mind. Her very identity. She fought against it quite easily though. She was old beyond age. Little could frighten her. "I am Mars. I have always been and will always be Mars."

_Are you? _The thought slammed through her like an ephemeral lance through her barriers.

Jupiter shuddered openly. "I … I don't even want to think about that. My name is Jupiter and that is all there is too it." Turning, in a way that made her seem more confident than she was, Jupiter strode out of Mars's bedroom.

Mars shuddered too. "Mercury. Don't worry. We have names. They are Mercury and Mars. Those are our names. Don't think things like that!

"I know that Mars… but I think… I wonder…"

"Mercury _is_ your name! You are Mercury and only Mercury!" Mars exclaimed. "My best friend, and member of the Eight Hands of the Queen. Well… Seven now. But that's a better number anyway."

Mercury giggled a bit at the joke.

"I suppose so." She murmured. "Yes. You're right Mars."

Even as Mars comforted her friend, and tried desperately to wall the thoughts in the back of her mind, a war had begun there now.

_I am Mars._

_Are you?_

_Yes._

_What if you're not? What if you're real name is something else?_

_That isn't possible_

_Setsuna—_

_Does not matter. I am Mars._

_Michiru—_

_Doesn't matter! I am Mars! I never was anyone else!_

_Are you sure?_

_Y-yes!_

_How do you know!?_

_I… I—_

_What about… Usagi?_

In that moment of silence between the two long time friends and partners, the queen entered the room. In that moment, three names, long forgotten, were lost once more…

* * *

**Authors' Notes** – 

Hellbore: Originally designed as the main battery armament of the Concordiat Navy's Magyar-class battle cruiser, the 25 cm Hellbore plasma cannon delivered half a megaton per second and outperformed any laser or projectile weapon of equal mass. For the purposes of this story, we have reduced what would normally be a capital ship/mobile armor mounted cannon to a man portable rifle, the standard heavy armament for the Queen's Own crystalline battle armor equipped guard.

Just figured we'd define that.

Well all! That is it. The first fic _I've_ ever Co-written anyway. Don't know about Ozz, he mighta co-written with someone else before but I haven't. The idea was mine and once I got Ozz's Muse-O-Matic 5000 goin' we came up with a plethora of ideas. This is gonna be pretty big…

Me and Ozzallos hope you enjoy! Ozz'll be giving you the next AN! By the way! Check out his newest installment of "Tales of the Foxcat!" Best Naruto/Ranma out there!

Till next!

Materia-Blade


	2. I

_Disclaimer:__ We, in no way shape or form, own Ranma ½ or Sailor Moon._

**The Anarchists**

A_ Ranma ½ _Fanfiction by_  
Materia-Blade _and_ Ozzallos_

_**- - - - - I - - - - -**_

A wide yawn marked the groggy awakening of Ranma Saotome, heir to the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, whose peaceful slumber was rudely interrupted by a beam of sunlight that had seen fit to creep up the side of his face, over his nose and would have superfluously attempted to burn his retinas out had they been open. The lethargic action in and of itself would not have been unusual if the martial artist had been any other person in the Nerima prefect.

Sadly, he was _not_.

His wakeup calls consisted of, on average, water buckets, fat pandas, yelling, extortionist siblings, bitter rivals and from time to time, an Akane-snatcher or two whose goal was not to specifically wake him up, per say, but precipitate events that would awaken him by proxy. What his wakeup calls did _not_ consist of was warm sunshine caressing his cheek in a bid to gently coax him back into the land of the living, which began to process tiny, barely perceptible alarms from within the depth of his sleep-drenched brain. Those tiny alarms prompted an instant, albeit sleepy assessment of his current situation.

The weight on his chest informed Ranma's groggy brain that he was in fact a she, in spite of the fact that she felt dry and distinctly remembered falling asleep as a man. Regardless, it was not too unusual of an occurrence and the aforementioned facts were filed away as minor oddities against the major oddities that his life generally consisted of.

Still, the subtle alarms in her head persisted and Ranma's eyes fluttered open in a languid manner, whereupon the sunbeam that had been gently coaxing her awake took the opportunity blind the girl. That too, was a small concern to her and she brought one hand up to relive her liquefying retinas. In fact, the only really only abnormal thing that her sleep deadened senses recognized was the softness of ground she laid on. It was much softer than her futon and she had rarely felt so comfortable, even with the biting sun gnawing at her sleep-filled eyes.

She cracked the eye back open slowly as an unrecognizable voice filtered through her ears. Probably just Kasumi calling for everyone to wake up, though even _that _was unusual for the martial artist, as she was almost _never _allowed to sleep long enough to benefit from the wakeup call to begin with.

The softness was a bed, she identified as the higher functions of her brain slowly came online. An actual _bed_. An extremely comfortable and springy bed, complete with white sheets and warm quilted blanket layered over her person.

Suddenly, she froze.

Being in an ultra soft, plush bed was more than enough cause for alarm, though not the principle source of her new found consternation. _That_ honor went to her hand. Her hand, which had had the unfortunate experience of waking up in the same predicament numerous times, was pressed into a breast.

Not her own breast.

The fact that she could make the very distinction was sad unto itself.

It was also with small thanks that said breast was covered with both a shirt and bra, though both articles were rather skimpy and obviously pajamas. _Not that it matters_, Ranma winced. Said girl- whoever she was -wouldn't care how many layers of clothing covered her once she woke up.

But that wasn't Ranma's only problem. She was draped haphazardly over the other girl in what was almost an embrace. It _was _an embrace! She lay about the girl, being held as if they had fallen asleep together; her arms caressing Ranma's back and head smoothly.

Their legs dangled together below them, intertwined suggestively.

Ranma's eyes were wide as an owl's. Fear fluttered down her spine as she slowly, carefully, _meticulously_, lifted the hand off of the left mound of the girl in the bed next to her.

Ranma's free hand clutched the nearby pillow for support as she fought to remove herself decisively from the bed, an action that would more than likely result in her grim demise if she moved too quickly. Instead she pulled away slowly, hoping to identify the girl once she could safely turn her own head to do so. _Who was this girl!? Why was she here!?_

Ranma tried to raise herself, but the girl's arms, holding her tightly, did not want to budge.

"Mmm… sis… don't wanna… get up… yet…" Came a lazy voice from above Ranma.

Ranma gulped as the words rolled over her mind. _Sis? Kasumi maybe?_ Perhaps thinking she was comforting one of her sisters? Still, the voice was off. A higher pitch. It didn't matter to Ranma either way. She had been in this situation once or twice before. The results were _never _good. _Ever_.

She reached up with her left hand, letting a bit more pressure fall on the girl in order to forcibly extract herself from the sleeping entanglement. Ranma took the hand resting lightly on her back first, pulling it from her person sliding it downward before letting it rest on the bed beside her. Next she reached up to her head, and took the other hand gingerly, sliding it down her back and off of her on the right.

Free, Ranma put her both hands on the sides of the girl and pushed herself up and away.

Below her lay a girl as beautiful, possibly even more so than any of the other women in her life. She was as petite as her own female aspect; diminutive height and shorter, vibrantly royal green hair. She was stunning, which said a lot considering the martial artist's regular company. It lay frazzled around her and she lay snoring, a bubble inflating and deflating on her nose. She wore a light pink tank top, which left the white bra beneath it quite visible and a pair of plain cotton panties. Curiously, a small fang showed every time she let loose a snore. Ranma was impressed. The girl was beautiful, but she was no one that Ranma knew… Making the situation even worse than it already was.

Looking down at the girl's body she inevitably noticed her own… her long, shapely legs… the same white panties, pink tank top and bra. Something about the sight disturbed her beyond being caught in such frilly garments, but figuring out what was so disturbing took on an importance several slots lower than the slumbering girl below her person.

Ranma carefully crept off the girl, moving slowly as to avoid any sudden awakening and thereby stave off the catastrophe waiting in the wind. She crept off the other girl to lie on her back beside her, both still under the blanket. The girl yawned as the light- previously shielded by Ranma -had now begun to attack the green haired girl's eyes.

More silently than ever before, she slid off the bed without shifting the blankets an inch and was finally able to take in the surrounding room in once she was off the bed.

A strange squarish plate was mounted on the wall right beside a door that had no doorknob. Most of the room was white though it didn't appear to be a result of wallpapering or paint, while the main source of light and consequently her wakeup call came from a window sculpted into the shape of a crescent moon. Her attention lingered there for a moment, noting how it seemed to let in more light than such a shape would normally allow, let alone the fact that it seemed to angle the warm sunshine unnaturally onto the girl sleeping on the bed.

A small teddy bear holding a large heart that said 'Be Mine' rested on the bed on the other side of the girl. Curiously, it was about ripped to shreds. Hairs all over the teddy bear had been ripped out and deposited on the floor, though whoever did the ripping didn't appear to be all that strong. The head was still attached when there had obviously been several attempts to pull it off.

The walls themselves may have been a plain creamy white, but they were decorated. With posters of boys. Some held musical instruments, some stood in action posses. All were targeted with a specific audience in mind, one that made Ranma shiver… There was no doubt that she was trapped in girl's room. A _girl's _girl room. A desk with an enormous mirror and more lipsticks and beauty affects than Ranma had ever seen sat opposite the door to as if to emphasize the fact. Oddly enough, only one wall remained undefiled, but the martial artist barely took note of it against the balance of girldom assaulting her senses.

Her attention turned back to the beautiful woman, girl really, maybe half a year her senior, still sleeping soundly. Satin and silk sheets caressed her, cradling her in an exquisite wood-carved mahogany masterpiece. Comfort beyond comfort. It was almost appalling to the martial artist, who could count the number of times he had slept in an actual bed on one hand, let alone this work of art.

_Where in the world am I…?_ Ranma thought with trepidation, taking another wary glance at her surroundings. All alone in enemy territory with no memory as to how she got there. There was no _way_ this would have a happy ending to it.

She paced the room, looking at several objects thrown haphazardly about it. It looked as if the shelves along the wall opposite the bed were normally quite neat and tidy. They still were, in fact, save for the shattered glass of busted and down-turned picture frames. The martial arts heir looked from the curious mess back to the sleeping beauty.

"Guess there's only one way to find out." Ranma murmured. She walked around the bed to the side the green-haired girl was closer to and knelt down. Reaching out, she poked the girl a few times with a finger in the shoulder, but received little response.

"Eh, hey." Ranma prodded. "Wake up."

Slowly, her poking in the shoulder started to bring the girl around. Bloodshot eyes slowly strayed open and hands rose to block the sunlight, taking in no notice of their surroundings. The lethargic girl squirmed a bit and mumbled something that sounded vaguely like 'Shut up…' but Ranma couldn't be sure.

"Hey, wake up!" Irritation began to overcome her wariness and Ranma's poking increased a measure. "Don't go back to sleep on me."

The girl jerked up in shock, staring wildly around her before locking onto Ranma. "Who? What?!" Red eyes widened upon noting her tormentor's state of dress. "Ack! I didn't mean—" The green haired girl's gibbering ceased and her already wide red eyes widened further. "My voice! What's happened to my voice?! Tell me what's happening to me!!"

_I thought I was supposed to be the clueless one here!_ Ranma backed away from the panicking girl, staring. "How the hell should I know what's wrong with your voice!? That was _your_ bed I woke up in!"

The girl before her blinked rapidly, processing the new information. "_My_ bed!? I've never seen this place in my life!! This is _your_ place!"

Ranma slapped her head, grumbling. "You've _got_ to be kidding me."

"Dammit, Ranma this is all your fault!"

The martial artist's hand slid down her face, all but gawking at the girl now. Her cheek, twitched. The now angry girl was now quivering with indignation, but Ranma was all but certain she hadn't been spoken to. But still… It was impossible, but…

"_Ryoga?!_"

The green haired girl's righteous anger ceased instantly and her head swung back. "How… how do you know my name? Who the heck are you?! What happened to me, dammit?!"

"This just can't get any weirder…" Ranma shook her head, then addressed the girl directly with a wry smile that indicated more confidence than what she was feeling at the moment. "What's up, P_-chan?_"

"_Ranma…?!_"All movement in the girl ceased and the she began to study her counterpart intently. The girl before her bore only the vaguest resemblance to the rival he knew so well, in the semblance of astonishingly lighter-than-usual red hair.

The martial artist blinked. She hadn't actually expected to be right. Ryoga Hibiki was a guy and a pig. One thing he _wasn't _was a gorgeous, red eyed, green haired girl. The girl's fists balled and any trace of surprise evaporated in that instant.

"It _is _your fault!" She screamed, taking a menacing step forward. "What the hell did you do to me Ranma?!"

"Hey! I'm just trying to figure out where the hell I am and who you are!" Ranma fired back, leaning into the girl's nose. "There's no need to go gettin' mad at me for waking you up! I've been poking you for— Hey! I'm talking here!"

The girl was ignoring her completely now. Her eyes were intently focused on her hands. "I-I'm a… a…"

"H-hey… are you okay? What's wrong?" Ranma asked. The girl was looking down at herself like she'd seen a ghost. Her hands were twitching.

"I-I'm a…" Her hands floated nervously in the air. Looking away she gulped. "I can't possibly be a…"

Then she grabbed the top of the pink tank top and yanked it down. Two breasts, beautiful, round, and most definitely _real_ were instantly uncovered, saved only by a bra from full exposure.

"He-hey! What in the hell! Cover yourself up, idiot!" Ranma screamed, shielding her eyes from the specimen of female cleavage as round and full as her own.

The girl was just staring like a dear caught in headlights. Slowly, she looked up towards the Saotome who was shielding her eyes. Shock became rage once more in an instant. "Damn you Ranma… You think this is funny? Change me back, right now! This _has_ to be your fault! Ranma! Prepare to di—!"

_Pang!_

The sound of Ranma's fist on the girl's skull reverberated across the room, comically as a bruise appeared on the green-haired girl's forehead.

Ranma recognized that tone. There was absolutely no doubt in her mind anymore. This girl absolutely had to be Ryoga, regardless of the body he wore. "Dolt!" She exclaimed. "Damnit P-chan, how the hell could this possibly be _my fault!?_ I woke up in some random room on top of some girl I've never met! What am I supposed to think, idiot?! I hoped that _you_ knew what was going on!"

Ryoga's attitude somehow changed in an instant. Her hand moved to stroke her chin with quivering uncertainty. "B-but I'm a girl! There's no way it couldn't have been you! You probably got a hold of some Nyannichuan and just felt like torturing me some more than you already have, didn't you!"

"Of course not! Where the heck are we? And how did you become… well…" Ranma trailed off, not quite sure. "Uh… look, are you okay? It's strange at first. I dunno how this happened but its better then being a pig, right?"

_Did I just try to 'comfort' Ryoga?_ Ranma asked himself.

Ranma shook her head roughly and beat it a few times with her fist. "Bah. Come on, stop acting like you aren't gonna try and kill me and get it over with so we can find out what the heck is goin' on!"

Ryoga just sat there, mechanically pulling up her bra and tank-top with her left hand. Blinking.

For a long moment she looked at Ranma, disoriented by the whole scenario. It was obviously Ranma. At least she thought it was.

"Yo! Earth to P-chan! Wake up!" The strawberry blonde version of his arch-rival said, interrupting his thoughts with skill borne of practice.

_Definitely_ Ranma.

"What is it!?" Ryoga screamed, annoyed at the interruption of his self-inspection.

"I _asked_ if you were okay! Guess you're obviously fine though. Thick headed as ever!"

For some reason, the retort didn't quite spark Ryoga's usual malice and hatred. So instead of beating the perverted bastard in female form to a pulp, she simply glared. In doing so she noticed something unusual.

"Are _you_ ok Ranma? Actually you look a little… funny…" The girl said, giving Ranma an inspective look, and the words a bite.

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked, plainly confused. She looked down at herself. Same breasts. Hard to forget those. Still thin as always. Red hair? Check. Short? Check.

"What are you talking about, Ren-- eh, Ryoga?" Ranma asked, checking herself over once again.

"Your eyes… they're red! And your hair… it's you… but you don't look like you! Look close." Ryoga said pointing to the mirror.

Curious, Ranma stood and walked toward the mirror she had passed earlier walking around the bed.

"Well I'll be…" She muttered. There before her stood a strange girl… similar to the form she saw every day in the mirror and yet different. Shoulder length hair, cascading down the sides of her head in a way similar to her normal hair, unbound. She had the same body shape, mostly. Her hair though was a bit pinkish; more red by far, but for some reason it was a bit… lighter? Her face… her face was sharper. It was more narrow and yet stunning as ever.

But that was hardly noticeable next to her eyes. As deep a red as she had ever seen. Transfixed she gazed into the mirror. Looking closer, her eyes glowed with an intensity every bit as strongly as her blue eyes had. But…

She gulped a little, turning away from the strange version of herself in the mirror. "Creepy…"

"I told you… something really weird is going on, here." Ryoga said as she stretched herself off the bed.

"Raya! Rena! Are you two up yet! School begins in an hour! I'll expect you in the Trans on time, you two!" Yelled an annoyed, parental voice.

Without warning, the wall that looked like a doorway suddenly evaporated, giving way to a similarly white hallway blocked by long flowing green hair on a face that looked almost the splitting image of Ryoga's new form but more mature with curves to match. She was a bombshell for lack of a better term and she entered, tapping her emerald green high heels in annoyance. The door immediately rematerialized behind her, blurring into the solid form it held only seconds prior.

"Rena! You aren't even dressed yet! I'd expect this from Raya but I thought you at least have the sense to wake up on time!" The woman exclaimed, glaring at Ryoga.

Suddenly a feeling of guilt rose in Ranma.

"Sorry, mama." She and Ryoga suddenly chorused. At that exact moment, both girls looked at each other with similar expressions of 'What the Hell!?' written on across their faces.

"Hurry up! You _will_ be on time today! It's not like you have to actually _walk_ to school like I did four millennia ago! Now come on! Hop to!" The woman clapped her hands.

Ranma and Ryoga simply sat there. "Uh… I don't –" Ranma began.

"Oh Raya-chan!" The woman suddenly interrupted as her eyes fell on the broken glass of picture frames and ripped teddy bear.

"Uh… I didn't do that…" Ranma inserted smartly.

The woman's eyes glistened. "I'm so sorry honey! I… I didn't know! Raya, what did Naota do? I… I'm sorry… I—!"

The looks of 'What the Hell!?' expanded if that was possible as eyes widened. Ranma was suddenly in an embrace with the woman both she and Ryoga had unconsciously called 'Mama.'

_This is strange even for me!_ Ranma thought in reeling shock. She accepted the embrace… edgily… And for some reason she felt… hollow?

Shrugging it off, Ranma regained her composure… some of it at least. "H-hey. It's ok! Nothing's wrong! I'm fine, no—er, I'm fine!" Ranma said.

_I'm fine, now? Naota? What is _wrong _with me!? _Ranma's mind tried to grasp why in the world it was thinking so strangely. Nothing had been wrong with her that she could think of, but somehow the errant thoughts only caused the hollow feelings to thicken about her.

"Look, we-we'll be fine okay?" Ranma murmured from the comforting embrace. Backing away she stared into the green-haired woman's eyes. "Uh… you go on! I… we'll get ready! Okay?"

The woman's eyes glistened. Genuine care written all over her concerned face. "My little Raya… you grow up more every day."

With a sniff the woman turned around. "I'll write you two a late pass for your classes. You can have a little extra while. Better hurry though."

The woman then placed her hand on the strange hand-pad beside the closed door. A hiss of realized pressure, a swish fading as the door suddenly disappeared, and the doorway was open. She stepped through and the door closed just as quickly once more.

Ranma gulped, now noticing the door. It was a mechanical door that operated on handprints. _Handprints_!

"Ryoga… was that our…?" Ranma tried to ask, trembling just a bit.

"We both called her… Mama." Ryoga said finishing for her. "God… I don't think I've ever been _this_ lost before."

"Come on. I guess we don't have much of a choice if we want to find out what's going on. Let's try and get dressed, ok?" Ranma said, trying to keep their mutual thoughts away from the shocking fact that they were… related?

"Some hot water will fix this right up, Ryoga. Don't panic yet, okay?" Ranma reassured her green-haired compatriot, even if the reassurances offered no answers themselves.

"Well, aren't you 'Little Miss Peppy'?" Ryoga groused as she finally threw her long legs off the bed. Seeing them all of a sudden, she gazed down in mute wonder.

_So this is what it's like… for Ranma? It isn't so bad. Better than a pig curse. _Ryoga thought while stretching.

"Hah! You're one to talk 'Mister Depression'!" Ranma retorted. Contrary to her words, Ranma wasn't really feeling the depressive aura that usually emanated from Ryoga's person.

_Strange_. She thought.

* * *

A man walked slowly down the shadow entrenched alley, remembering the past. Eternity had passed since he had been so close to Earth, let alone all the memories associated with the blue orb so many hundreds of light years away. Even at this distance, he felt her devastating spell cast over his person like a blanket, but that was a fight as old as time itself. Century after century he had traveled, ever wandering. And now he had returned. After all this time, he had returned to the Core worlds. 

Maybe… just maybe he could find the courage to do that which must be done.

_It's a fool's errand._ He thought bitterly. He could no more strike his twice bound love than he could strike his own daughter. The very idea triggered an emotional cascade across his psyche. _God, the girl was everything to him_! What he wouldn't do for just one… just _one_ moment with his baby!

He continued walking. His dusty torn cloak shuffled in the wind as did his jet black shoulder length hair. Scars caressed his face and arms. On his back he shouldered a gigantic curved blade wrought of pure imperium with complex symbology etched down its length. Around his left wrist lay two tarnished silver bands. One, represented the girl he so longingly wished to see dead. His memory of his betrayal. When the quiet claws of serenity tried to blank his mind, this kept him sane. Kept him who he was… Old beyond time itself.

And the other… If the first bracelet kept him sane, then the other gave him hope.

The alley itself opened up, giving way to a main artery of pedestrian traffic and small shops, with the occasional food vendor milling through the backlog of people. All things considered, the strip of assorted businesses, restaurants and bars didn't hold a candle to the teeming hive of activity that was at the heart of the city, but then, he wasn't looking to stand out amongst the crowd either. He could pass through the back streets and suburbs of Eleria with some measure of anonymity. Downtown, however, was off limits if he desired to keep his head.

He stepped into the throng of people and sighted a small bar crammed into the corner of a side street building. Shadows flashed across him as a cargo skiff floated over the street at blurring clip, obscuring the cloud spackled blue sky momentarily before disappearing from view. The citizens around him barely took notice as they continued about their business.

Time to get to work.

He moved to a small tavern, the door opening with a hiss of released pressure and an electrical buzz.

The room was small, though quite crowded for midday. He walked to the bar, unnoticed by the patrons.

"Hello sir! Strange clothes you're wearing! Well, what ya want?" The bartender asked in a supremely cheerful voice.

"I'll take a soft Villimna on the rocks." The man said tiredly.

"Alright! That be all for ya?" He asked, the same cheerful alto.

The man nodded and turned his head away. Glancing through the crowd he saw all sorts of people. Many of them had a dry, wandering look same as himself. There were far fewer people sporting the nan-glazed hair styles that inner city folk wore but there were enough to be at least a fourth of the crowd in total. All in all, it appeared business was booming.

"Uh… you gonna give me your loyalties sir?" The man asked, shocking the man back into conversation.

"What loyalties?" The man asked, confused.

"The oath of course! I can't do business without hearing the oath to the Queen! Where have you been!?" The bartender paused, sizing up his newest customer. "You do have the look of an outer-worlder about you. Gotta admit, that sword gave me quite a scare when you came in. Look mighty intimidatin' ya do. Well, just give 'em and I'll be right about serving you."

Internally the man growled. His fist clenched. "T-the… the devil queen has an… _oath_ now? No! I'd never swear my loyalty to that witch!"

Suddenly, the room went dead silent. All staring at him.

But only for a moment.

The next sound that was heard was the cool hiss of a Tazer, being drawn behind him, and shocked patrons backing away, or jeering at him with a fist. "Leave here now, dissenter! I'll have no business with the likes of you, unless you submit your loyalties and repent for that slander!"

"My loyalties are my own. As should yours be." The man said, his eyes covered by his downcast face and hair.

"The Queen deserves all loyalty! She came here personally! I've _seen _her you fool! She is pure Serenity. I only live to serve the Queen, blessed may she live forever." The last phrase had a practiced quality to it, no doubt the oath he had referred to earlier. That, and the poor, diluted man seemed to truly wish the Queen would live forever.

"The Queen is on your side as long as you are her subservient. If that were to change she would kill you before you could blink, and sweep you under the rug."

The bartender was taken aback, but only for a moment. "You liar! Get out of my tavern! I'll not have your filth here!"

A pair of strong hands grabbed the man's shoulders with the cue. The stranger simply reached back and rotated the one of the interlopers arm around, locking the joint at the shoulder. The would-be bouncer made a valiant struggle not to emote the excruciating pain he was feeling until the man applied another half pound of pressure, popping the arm out of its socket and eliciting a painful cry from his victim. A fist blazed in from the right and the ragged stranger caught it with little effort, crushing an anonymous hand within his other without even turning his attention to it. The new attacker, crumpled as his hand was held within the steel vice for another moment before being released. The remaining bar crowd opted not to press their luck with the outsider any further.

He shook his head. _Pitiful, brainwashed fools._

"I'll escort myself out, thank you." Then he turned his attention to the crowd. "If anyone would like to hear of the_ true_ queen you all love so much, try challenging her opinion someday. You'll find yourself dead before you blink."

He didn't expect many results. Not so quickly. But people would talk of this. And talk spread rumors. Rumors spread discord. Discord with the right amount of manipulation could make an entire planet a place to aid his never-ending battle.

It could.

As long as he kept believing, it could, someday…

He stood and walked past the two bouncers who served as security, nonchalantly walking through the aiming of several more Tazers and even a Phase blade. As the man left the tavern only one thought blazed in his mind.

_I'll see you dead yet Serenity… I'll see you dead yet… Usagi..._

* * *

Door. 

No door.

Door.

No door.

"Dammit, Ranma, quit playing with that!" Ryoga hissed over the redhead's shoulder as Ranma repeatedly applied her palm to the device that controlled the materialization and dematerialization of the bedroom door. For all intents and purposes, the door appeared to vanish before their very eyes, only to reappear if the pad was left either neglected at length or touched again. Ranma pressed the pad again and the door silently appeared, contrary to the lost boy's advice.

"This is seriously weird stuff." The redhead commented, running her fingers along the completely solid flat surface with wide eyes.

"You're going to break it!" Ryoga shot back, and Ranma touched the pad again. No door. "And don't think I'm going to bail you out when you do!"

Ranma shrugged, but considered her words silently. Last thing they needed was to break a futuristic invisible door. God only knew how much _those_ cost. She gave the now empty frame one last curious look, before stepping through and out into a hallway, Ryoga close behind. Both looked up and down the length of the hall and came to the same conclusion: it certainly _looked_ like a normal home. In the hall hung pictures, a number obviously of family or friends, none of which they knew. There were a few, however, that were immediately recognizable.

"Check this out."

Ranma's attention was diverted from the other frames to the specific one his green haired compatriot was looking at. The scene was obviously a park, with two girls in the view. One had green hair and sat on the cradle of a swing set with her head cocked curiously while the redhead behind her leaned over her shoulder, smiling brightly. The background held numerous other play ground structures, with kids playing in the background, frozen in time for that singular snapshot. Ranma blinked, as if to clear her eyes. "That's… us?"

Ryoga nodded, never taking his eyes from the picture. There was no doubt that the two girls in the frame were virtually identical to the bodies they now inhabited. Ranma was the light redhead with long, complex braiding and a light blue sundress. Ryoga's persona wore a lace trimmed pink tank top and green shorts several shades lighter than the long green locks that streamed around her. The picture appeared to have been taken in the spring or summer, given the greenery in the background. Her finger moved to touch the counterpart in the picture. "This can't be—"

It was only a light touch, but once he made contact with the glass, the frame came to life, projecting its image outward into open air several centimeters. Ryoga Hibiki jerked his hand back as if burned, and even Ranma's eyes widened as the scene came to life.

"—_so cute!"_ The redhead suffused, now gesturing toward someone or something outside the frame.

"_Please,"_ The green haired girl rolled her eyes, angling her head up to see the girl over her shoulders. _"They're all cute to you."_

"_Everybody has a hobby."_ The redhead grinned. _"Besides, I can't help it if I'm so appreciative of the opposite—"_

"_Rena! Raya!"_

No sooner was the voice heard than another girl rushed on scene, followed by two more. One had shorter, light blue hair and was clad in baggy overalls with a sky blue tee beneath, while the girl behind her sported a nearly jet black mane, brown knee length skirt and red mid drift. The final girl simply wore a pair of low cut jean shorts and oversized shirt. All three surround the pair, all but obscuring the original shot.

"_We got tickets!"_ the first girl exclaimed, waving five stubs around excitedly. The redhead abandoned the position over her friend's shoulders with a surprised look.

"_No way!"_ The girl known as Rena exclaimed. _"The line for those is light years long!"_

The blue haired girl adopted a plainly smug look. _"My daddy just happens to know somebody who knows somebody who—"_

"_I'm in!"_ The green haired girl chimed, standing up beside the redhead.

The black haired girl raised a fist in triumph. _"Whicker Nova, here we come!"_

With those words, the scene froze and the image collapsed back into it's two dimensional frame. Ranma and Ryoga simply stared, completely speechless. It was another moment before Ryoga snapped out of his shock first. "What the hell have you gotten me into, Ranma?!"

The accusation jerked the martial artist back to reality. "Me?! Why did I wake up in your room!?!"

"Nice try." The green haired Ryoga folded her arms smugly, jabbing her thumb down the hallway. "My room is down there."

The Hibiki's superiority evaporated like a snowflake in hell once his brain processed the words that had fallen from his mouth. Even Ranma was silent, completely missing the opportunity to follow the admission up as she chewed on the statement before filling the silence with one of her own. "Whicker Nova is a band. How the _hell_ do I know that?"

Ryoga began to rub her temples, brushing a lock of hair aside. "This is getting too damn—"

Any further thoughts were interrupted as a door dematerialized to the right, allowing the woman simply known as 'mama' to step into the hallway. She turned and caught sight of them almost immediately, nodding with approval as she stepped by them. "Good. I went ahead and readied the bath and conjured your uniforms. Don't dally!"

"Yes, mama!"

Both girls found themselves blinking as the response spilled from their mouths automatically again. The woman paused, and gave Ranma an especially concerned look, patting her gently on the head. "Don't worry. It'll be okay."

The hollow feeling returned, but Ranma couldn't for the life of her define the source, and opted to simply nod dumbly. It was probably the safest response at the moment anyhow, she figured as the adult gave her a sympathetic smile and turned to walk back down the hallway.

Both girls stared after her for another moment before Ranma shrugged and moved toward the open restroom door. Ryoga was close behind her with a question. "It'll be 'okay'?"

Ranma shook her head, warily stepping into the restroom. "Beats the heck out of me," Not that she was going to tell pig-boy about the uncertain pit in her stomach. "All I know is even a futuristic restroom has gotta have warm water."

Plush silver carpeting gave way to stained brown wood flooring as they stepped fully into the restroom, noting that it looked a lot like any other restroom they had ever seen, save a few minor differences. First, it was a _nice_restroom. Brass trim along marble counter tops. Soft ambient light flooded the room from a sphere _floating_ in the corner. Then there were about three sinks with no knobs or handles of any sort. The seats of no less then seven toilet stalls in the opposite corner itself was a strange sight, each seemingly decorated with a differing arrangement of three pastel colored sea shells. Seeing nothing highly out of the ordinary, save for the large number of everything that there was, Ranma strode over to the one of the sinks and stopped, studying it curiously.

Ryoga was close behind. "What?"

"How do you turn it on?" Ranma indicated, gesturing to the knob-less pearl white sink. She bent down to its level, studying it closely. "I mean, what good is a sink if ya can't get hot water out of--?" The words seemed to be magic and with them, steaming water began to trickle from the shiny brass facet. The redhead snorted "Guess that works well enough." She cupped her hands and dipped them into the flow, quickly splashing herself in the face with the water she had gathered. Ranma smiled. "That's much… better?"

Her voice was still the pitch of a girl's.

"What!?" Ryoga shoved Ranma aside as she frowned with the new development. Ryoga dipped her own hands into the stream and splashed herself with warm water. "No! It can't be!" Panic began to edge into the green haired girl's voice. "Maybe it's not hot enough! Hotter! I need hotter!"

The faucet seemed to comply with her wishes and soon the water was quickly steaming while Ranma simply shook her head in annoyance. "Locked. What a pain in the ass."

She turned away and lifted her pajama tee over off her body and overhead, throwing the light garment across the bathroom floor and unclipping the bra formerly beneath it. Without another thought, she was out of the panties and stepping toward the door that undoubtedly led to the wash basin and furo where she paused, looking the door over. This one didn't have a hand pad next to it. She glanced back to the girl desperately attempting to splash herself back into a male. "Yo, Ryoga. This one doesn't have a touch-thing."

"Forget the touch thing and help me get back to being a—GACK!" Ryoga spasmed as she turned away from the facet, finding a completely nude Ranma studying the door. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING NAKED!?"

Ranma sighed, all but ignoring the girl's antics now. "Stop bein' a baby, P-chan. Ain't like you haven't seen it all before anyway."

"But…! But…!" Ryoga gibbered, covering his eyes desperately. "And stop calling me P-chan!"

Ranma poked at the door experimentally with a fingertip and it vanished before her eyes, admitting her into the steaming room. "Huh. Go figure." She turned back to Ryoga, giving the girl full frontal exposure. "You always complained about how much better I had it. Now it's 'xactly the same. Least you aren't a pig anymore, right?"

"But I'm a _guy_!" Ryoga complained, prompting an amused snort from Ranma.

"Seems like I've heard that one before." She returned dryly before turning to step into the steaming sanctuary, and then paused, looking back at the green haired girl. "Look, you can either stand there and cry about it or get a soak. Doesn't matter to me either way. I've been stuck like this before for over a month." A disconcerting smirk crept across her lips with the words. "If we're stuck here that long, _then_ you can complain."

Ranma disappeared into the steam, leaving Ryoga to peek after his part time friend and rival. Finding out she had been locked hadn't even _fazed_ Ranma. The green haired former lost boy shook her head. It was a subtle thing. A _very _subtle thing. She couldn't count the number of times she had panned Ranma for the pig curse and how much easier she had it. At least _she_ was still a person, right? _She _didn't have to deal with being a pig.

But now…

Realization slowly trickled through Ryoga's awareness. Going from man to pig was a slap in the face. One was entirely different from the other and because of that, provided some degree of insulation. _He _may have been a pig, but there was no threat to her personality, let alone masculinity. It was just alien and supremely inconvenient. _Now_ he was a she and things were falling entirely too close to home. In some respect, Ryoga had been right-- She was still human and there was a lot of familiarity inherent with the body. Easier than being a pig, right?

Ryoga looked down her new body and shivered at the basic addition and subtraction that had been visited upon her once-male physique. Two breasts and no… _manhood_. Even the body felt… _Off_. No, it wasn't the outright slap in the face that changing species induced, but the new form threatened her identity in more ways than she could have possibly imagined. He was a guy! A man! And he was missing… and had…

"Dammit, Ryoga, stop snivlin' and get in here!"

The lost boy's brooding instantly evaporated as irritation took hold. Ryoga shrugged off the shirt and stomped toward the open furo door. It would be a cold day in hell before he'd let that bastard get the better of her, and he had _seen_ hell. Being a girl for a few days or even a whole month would be child's play.

Ryoga sauntered over to the sauna, removing her clothes as she went before being totally engulfed by the rich steaminess of the furo. Ranma was already sitting in the huge bath, leaning against the back edge in what appeared to be a state of perfect relaxation. What had started as light red hair was now floating free, three shades darker emulating her former hair color to a tee, and her arms stretched behind her, allowing the water to lap at the roundness of her assets.

"God, does this feel _good,_ Ryoga." Ranma murmured, clearly enjoying herself.

It was all Ryoga could do to keep from gawking. How did Ranma do it? Had she really been locked _that many times!?_ The casual demeanor was enough to make the once-pig-boy want to strangle her! Still she held her cool. Kept her calm. For once.

_I can play that game too, Ranma!_

Even as she washed herself before the soak, the fact that she felt less awkward around a naked girl wasn't lost on Ryoga. Even _Ranma's _girl form normally had a… blood-spewing effect on her. Perhaps this body was immune? _Thank god for small favors._

Ranma barely paid her any mind as Ryoga rinsed the suds away and moved toward the furo, dipping a bare leg into its inviting warmth. She leaned forward and promptly felt the weight on her chest shift position… and her center of gravity. The formerly lost boy yelped as she lost her balance without warning and toppled face first into the steaming water of the furo. A face, red with embarrassment and anger ascended from the sloshing depths as Ranma cackled with amusement.

"Sh-shut up!" Ryoga stuttered, her now darkened green hair flinging water droplets as she shook with rage and unavoidable embarrassment.

"Y-your, heheh… your face! God, did I look like that when I first became a girl!? Ah hah!" Ranma's mirth echoed through the walls of the large room.

"Damnit, shut up Raya!" Ryoga screamed.

Mirth faded to astonishment in that instant as Ryoga realized her own words. Both looked at one another, trying to comprehend the alien name.

Ranma spoke first but the tone had become edgy now. "R-Ryoga? Why… why'd you…"

Ryoga's response was surprisingly firm. Edgy, but still firm. "That's your name. Here… this body that you're in. Your name is Raya…" Ryoga murmured. It was almost as if she were talking to herself. "And I'm…"

"You're Rena." Ranma supplied. The red-haired girl was shivering despite the liquid heat they were immersed in. "God… what is happening to us...?"

Ryoga was slightly astonished at the lack of curse in that sentence. "I don't know…" She replied as a chill definitely not due to temperature slid down her own spine. "I don't know."

Neither spoke another word until they left the furo; both simply tried to forget the strange knowledge seeping into their minds. Without words, their minds began to wander as they left the furo and mindlessly dried themselves. It went like that, neither saying anything, until both of them were greeted with a most unpleasant sight waiting for them on a nearby ledge.

"You…" Ranma remarked irritably, her eye twitching, as she studied the new find. "…have got to be kidding me."

There before the two men-turned-women were matching uniforms. Name tags were etched into the strange elastic clothing on the right breasts stating plainly 'Raya' and 'Rena.' Strange shoulder pads resided along the top of the outfit, though they were sleeveless.

It was an entire body suit in one article of clothing that seemed to have a very similar style like that of a swim suit with a skirt. There were holes for the legs, but they showed off almost the entire leg going down barely far enough to be called panties!

Raya's was a deep vibrant blue contrasting the red of her hair with jagged bolts of white etched through out the blue in sharp patterns across the entire bodice. The shoulder pads were white.

"There's no way!" Ryoga exclaimed. "No way in hell!"

Ryoga's… _Rena's_ had the same basic outfit with a completely different pattern of Green, matching her hair shade for shade. White too crisscrossed her outfit but instead of lightning bolt shapes, simply used straight lines.

Ranma walked forward, currently more secure in her core identity than the ex-fanged boy. She lifted the blue article of cloth carefully. "Thank god it's not pink…" She commented with distain. She most definitely was _not_ happy with this arrangement… but she couldn't say that she hadn't worn worse before. Lingerie, swimsuits… That idiot Toma and his island came to mind as well.

"Come on… until we figure out where to get clothes and stuff there's really no other choice, Ryoga." Ranma said, resigned.

"No way in hell!" Ryoga repeated a touch louder.

Suddenly a presence made itself known behind them. Of course, they hadn't heard the now invisible door open. "Ugh… again!? Rena I know you hate the school's uniform policy but really! Do we have to go through this every morning?"

Ryoga and Ranma, who had whipped around to face the stranger, blinked. And blinked again.

"Who're you?" Ranma asked, and instantly wished she had the words back. One person it wasn't was the woman they had labeled 'mama'.

The girl standing there smirked. "Funny." She retorted.

Long hair strung in a light green tinge, not far from Ryoga's hue swept down the girl's back. Taller than both Ryoga and Ranma by almost a head, she stood with an elegant gaze in one of the suits sitting before Ranma and Ryoga. Her own, was tinted red and striped with lines composed of very small circles. Extremely form fitting, the suit comprised her entire outfit with the white circles crisscrossing about her body diagonally around her entire form.

Ryoga didn't know why but on sight of the woman, she felt and sudden blasting of envy and jealousy. Strangely it was directed towards the other woman's _hair, _of all things! Normally she was one to give in to anger but this…! Ryoga looked at the girl, furiously suppressing the envy that was bubbling up from within.

"I'm sorry." She muttered meekly, not knowing what else to say.

The girl smiled. "Get dressed you two. You are pretty late. Breakfast is already done!"

The girl skipped out of the room merrily her hair bouncing as much as her breasts did in the extremely form fitting suit. Too shocked to really even think about it, neither girl even noticed, as both simply tried to comprehend who she was.

"R-ranma… who was that? Do you know?" Ryoga asked, curiously.

"Uh uh." Ranma replied, slightly annoyed. "Jeez, this is really weirding me out! When she came around I felt… Bah… nevermind."

"I felt…_Rena_ felt jealous of her hair." Ryoga blurted carelessly. "What did you feel? She feel? Similar right?"

Ranma remained stock silent. Then like a dam bursting she exclaimed, "_WHAT!?_"

Ryoga winced with the outburst but realized what had caused it with absolute clarity. They- he and Ranma -weren't acting quite… _normal._ He hadn't found out why yet but he knew damn well that he wasn't the jealous sort, on average. Especially about _hair_ of all things. Thinking that, he just stared at Ranma. Perhaps the idiot had an insight as to who the girl was that he had not.

The truth of the matter also caused Ranma to feel suddenly felt nervous… "I… uh… I felt… look, come on lets just get dressed. We aren't gonna' figure out anything sitting here!" Ranma spun and with not so subtle change in topics and looked down at the clothes before her. "Might as well get this over with."

"Hey! Damn you Ranma! "Ryoga growled, his temper rising. "What did she feel like to you? I wanna know who she—!"

"I don't wanna talk about it, Ok P-chan!? You heard her! Breakfast is done!" Came Ranma's swift interruption. She grabbed the cloth up and turned away from the green haired girl angrily herself.

_I can't believe I felt protected! By that girl! What the hell is wrong with me?! _Ranma thought, hideously frightened by her own emotions. She furiously set the cloth on the ground and stepped into the top of it, ignoring Ryoga's steaming.

The redhead pulled the uniform up and adjusted the smooth material to comfort, already well familiar with the niceties of dressing in female clothing. It was a sad footnote, in her opinion, that donning the leotard-like uniform took next to no conscious thought on her part. _That _was something she couldn't blame on the situation at hand. The material stretched to fit around her and once it was in place, clung snugly. Ranma bent down to touch her toes and test the garment's range of motion.

_At least it won't interfere with martial arts,_ she thought with mild edge of sarcasm.

Next was the pair of white gloves that sat near the garments. Ranma sighed. Those were probably necessary too. She slipped them onto her hands, finding that they fit in the same skin-tight way the suit did, melding to her body in a state of perfection that no other article of clothing she had ever worn could ever hope to achieve. Not that it was probably the most comfortable garment she had ever worn, oh no. It was _far_ too girlie to even—

Suddenly her world erupted in light. All she could see was layer after layer of white blinding light.

A tingling touched her skin. Not painful. Not even irritating. Just… fuzzy.

Ryoga didn't know what to think. One second the red-head was just fine and then the next she erupted glowing with an ephemeral white shade, her body losing its features and sporting only light.

As fast as it began it ended, and there was Ranma, standing in the same suit.

"Wh-what… what happened?!" Ranma exclaimed, dizzy, her eyes recovering unnaturally quickly though.

Ryoga didn't have _any_ idea what happened. Touching the other girl's hand though, Ryoga suddenly thought she had one.

"Oh my god… Ranma… l-look!"

The glove, which Ranma had so carelessly placed on her hand before was no longer there. Instead her hand… _was_ the glove! It felt like skin! It _was skin! _Veins, where they normally were on her hands, now appeared in the white and blue of the glove.

"A-amazing…" Ryoga murmured breathlessly as she ran her hand along the gloved portion of Ranma's skin. The… skin-made portion of Ranma's glove.

Ranma looked down at herself in horror. Running her own hand, her glove along the line up her arm, she felt through the glove. The glove might as well have been her very fingers! Touch felt exactly the same. Running her fingers along her left arm to the point where normal skin was still exposed, the felt no difference in touching her other glove to touching the skin.

Ranma turned to the wall mounted mirror out of morbid curiosity and studied the girl therein, performing a lazy pirouette. _Some things never change_, she snorted with satisfaction. Curse or no curse, her female form had always been stunning and the new body she wore was no exception. The off-red hair, dried now by the light show, she could live with and the eyes were definitely weird, but… She let a finger smooth out the thin fabric of the skin tight bodysuit's skirt, finding that every skin tight part had become skin in the same way that the gloves had. Uniform or not, she made this look _good_.

"I think I'm gonna' puke." Ryoga grumbled as she toweled herself off. That was important she quickly found, as some of her newly acquired female parts weren't taking kindly to being air-dried. The redhead ceased her preening, and favored her with a wicked smile.

"Your turn, P-chan."

The green haired beauty paled.

* * *

Two girls stepped out of the bath room and back into the hallway, both in uniform. One, however, of them was distinctly unhappy with the situation. 

"I can't believe I have to wear this!" Ryoga groused as the pair walked to the hallway's outlet. The pink of embarrassment clashed with her green hair. "What pervert designed this thing, anyway?!"

"Suck it up, P-chan." Ranma simply rolled her eyes, tiring of the newly minted girl's whining. She had had to deal with such outfits for the better part of two years while the moron beside her harped on about how easy she had it. Leotards. Bras. Panties. Make-up. The were aspects of femininity she was intimately familiar with and she felt virtually no sympathy for the former lost boy. In fact, Ranma was almost hoping she stayed that way for a month, or at least long enough for Ryoga to receive a real lesson in female biology.

"And you!" Ryoga's temper turned back onto Ranma. "Just how much of a girl are you, anyway?!

The comment struck a little too close to home. "Shuddup, Ryoga."

"Looking yourself over in the mirror like that…" Ryoga shook his head in disgust. "You act even more like one than Akane!"

"I'm warnin' ya, bacon brains."

The fuming girls stepped out of the hall and into the new room, their argument quickly stalling as they stumbled upon what looked to be the living room with the girl from earlier sitting in a solid white chair that jutted from a the thick plush pile of dull silver carpeting. Ryoga forgot her irritation as she glanced around the room. That strange girl seemed to be sitting in the only piece of furniture in the room, aside from various tables around its perimeter. The older, green haired girl flipped through a glossy magazine with colorful and literally animated pages a moment longer before noting her new arrivals.

"Geez, about time you two."

She took to her feet and tossed the magazine onto one of the nearby tables, where its flashy, animated visuals promptly lapsed into a faceless neutral gray. As soon as she cleared the chair, the pair of girls were astonished to watch it literally melt into the carpet along the same footprint it was occupying. It was gone a second later, leaving the girls staring. The light green haired woman stared back. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

Ranma mentally shook herself out of the incredulity and nudged her partner, forcing Ryoga out of her own amazement while keeping a mental frown from spreading across her face. There it was again—That _feeling_. That feeling of security that the girl _inspired_ within her. Ranma's psyche shivered as the very thought of being reliant on anybody for _anything_ grated against her core. She broke the irritating spell with action. "Come on, Ryoga. We're late. For school. Yeah."

The older girl before them shot the pair a curious look. "What did you call her?"

Ignoring it after a moment of silence the woman shrugged and stepped over to a nearby table. From there she pulled a pair of slim bags off and tossed them; first to Ranma, then to Ryoga who both caught them on sheer reflex. She pulled her own from the countertop. "Let's go, squirts. Mom's gonna kill you both if your not on the mat in five."

* * *

Ranma shivered once more as she, Ryoga, and the escort believed to be their older sister stepped off what she had come to know as 'the trans'. The thing terrified her on levels she really was not comfortable with even thinking about. They were in the future, or something like it. That much had been discerned subconsciously by both Ranma and Ryoga. While both seemed to have fleeting memories of this place, this _world_, neither really had any idea what was going on. 

Being in the future, however, paled when compared to the realization that she had been broken; _Destroyed _on a molecular level. They had been _disassembled_ into as many pieces as physically possible and then put back together on the other side. The vertigo it had induced was passing, but the utter fear the trans had instilled was only just coming to light.

And they didn't even realize it! They didn't even seem to _care!_

Ranma's psyche churned with raw anxiety. _God… Do they even know what happens to them? Can they even feel it? _

A shudder ran up her spine. She had been completely blown apart, in the most literal way possible. These people acted like they did this everyday! _Every day!_ Perhaps it was her knowledge of ki that allowed her to truly _see_ what had just happened to her body…

Another shiver ran up her spine.

"Hey. What is with you two? Why are you acting so weird today?" The girl who had guided them here asked fervently.

Again the overwhelming emotion of protection consumed Ranma. Again, it grated at her and she grit her teeth in frustration. How dare this woman make her _feel_ like this! Even so, and against her own will, Ranma was thankful for the older girl's presence.

Glancing at Ryoga, Ranma realized that he, rather _she_ was in a similar state of shock and trepidation. Good. Good to know she wasn't the only one almost terrified. These people blew themselves up on a genetic level to travel ten miles on a daily basis!

_Ten miles..._ Ranma thought fearfully. More information she shouldn't know popping into her head. The trip hadn't hurt. It hadn't hurt in the slightest. But somehow she had seen herself be blown apart and reshaped before her very eyes.

"Well? Come on! You just gonna sit there all day?" The girl said, slightly irritated.

Ryoga growled in response but moved, Ranma close behind.

Looking ahead Ranma felt glad to see a glass door that was opened by actually _pushing_ it. Passing Ryoga, her fingers touched it and the same vague impression in her mind told her that the manually operated door was a novelty in the society they had somehow been dropped into. It was a simple thing, but its familiarity did wonders for her frayed nerves. The door itself opened easily, allowing the light breeze of open air to welcome them outdoors.

She pushed through it and received the shock of a lifetime. Ryoga ran into her frozen form from behind as she too, was induced into a similar state of awe as both gawked at the new world they had stepped into.

A road that shimmered with pure metallic luster traveled below their feet, shifted with a vibrant display of color that seemed to refract and shift with the touch of the morning sunlight. More incredible was the fact that the road… _moved. _Not fast, but it moved to her left in the same way that an escalator crawled apace, save the fact that it was entirely one piece… And ethereally smooth.

It wasn't just that. A moving sidewalk wasn't all that abnormal. Sure, the method by which it was accomplished free of any support was, but…

Ranma gazed in absolute amazement as her eyes followed the spiral of liquid pathways down, converging onto a massive platform. The number of people traversing it was massive, but not so dense as to induce claustrophobia. Still, the size of the area made it plain that there were thousands of people milling about this enormous silver platform suspended over wide open space. Some would walk toward the platform's center and abruptly vanish while others would appear out of thin air.

Ranma shivered. It was another trans, this one huge in scale.

In that moment of staring and awe, Ranma felt that there was something… _off_ about the people around her. The women all wore the same skin-tight fuku-ish type of uniform she wore while the men wore a similar variant, like something she would expect from Furinkan's wrestling class. Still, it wasn't the clothing. Something was odd, but she could not place what. It was simply all too much, too fast to notice an insignificant detail nagging at the edge of her consciousness.

Across from them, a mile, maybe even two, was a building, taller than any they had ever seen and as wide as a soccer field, that held the same colorful luster as the ground did. It pulsated as the angle they viewed differed as they were herded by their chaperone onto the strange liquid crystal walkway. At the bottom of the building were glass doors perfectly similar to the one they had just walked out of. It didn't take much to realize the grand structure was a symmetrical copy of the building they had just exited.

Thousands of windows lined these impossibly tall buildings and their sheer size made the road on which they stood seem like crystalline highway of magnificence. The cloud spackled sky above was busy, as flying crafts of all shapes and sizes flew in all directions above their heads in what seemed to be a massive tangle of vehicles. Lights on the backs of each vehicle served as the propulsion for each and they whistled through the air at high velocity.

But none of this held a candle of amazement next to the structure off in the distance, surrounded by a ring of similarly sculpted skyscrapers. The impossible sight was a dome that could have been twice the size of Tokyo itself lay in the distance. Pure white, it looked like a gleaming marble built into the earth, dwarfing any of the buildings around it by magnitudes.

Even so, it was far away. Very far. It sat alone, a solitary white marble of near holiness surrounded on all sides by a majestic deep blue sea that sparkled with sunlight. Technically, it would have been called a moat, but such a descriptive failed to do the sight justice, let alone accurately describe the sheer scale of what they were seeing.

The awing scenery was such that their trip along the moving conveyance had ended without their even realizing it.

"Okay you guys! I'll see you after school! Oh… and Raya… good luck okay? You'll find someone better. Don't worry!" The green haired beauty said with a smile of pure love. For a younger sibling.

Ranma felt warmth and with it, unbridled anger, yet she couldn't bring herself to snap. "Ya, sis." She replied. Then glowered. _These subconscious answers had better stop soon or I'm going to go insane!_ She thought desperately.

Ryoga's eyes only widened slightly this time at the term. She had pretty much guessed that the older girl was their sister. Now it was confirmed.

"Really though, "The girl continued in a briskly whimsical tone. "Just because he left you is really no reason to go and make your hair so… hideous. Just leaving it… straight? God I don't think any girl… no… make that any_one_ worth their crystals has done that in three millennia!"

Ranma flushed with embarrassment- _embarrassment!_ –at her own looks and forced the feeling down ruthlessly. Her hair was her hair and she would wear it how she damn well chose!

It was at that moment that the older girl's first words registered in Ranma's mind. "Wait… where are we—!"

A blaze of light erupted from her feet, warmth sinking into them even as fear clutched her. The Trans. She was going to be blasted away again!

"Raya Aukomino. Age, seventeen. Destination. Class seven thousand four hundred and twelve. Thank you Raya! Enjoy your day at Orcus High School." Said a robotic voice echoing all around her as light enshrouded all.

With that, Ranma felt herself blasted into oblivion and being put back together somewhere once again. Her last fleeting memory of leaving the station, an image of Ryoga's face, eyes wide as she realized this platform was another gigantic trans.

No time elapsed between the dematerialization and re-materialization of her body. Releasing a sigh of undeniable relief, Ranma let her hand rest on the wall of the room she had appeared in. Breathing heavily though more from newly developed anxiety than anything else, she thought she might be able to get used to the feeling being blasted another several miles into her correct classroom entailed. This one had been a little less intense then the one from her home had been.

"Welcome class. Please, come sit. It's bright and early, the perfect time for you to be filling your brains with something that will get you somewhere someday!" Said a light, prickly woman. This one was beautiful too, if stern. She wore a uniform, similar to the students but, while she looked no older than Kasumi, it was obvious that the woman held the position of teacher of this classroom. Her blond hair curled out in a way that resembled a bad case of bed-head, yet looked stunningly good on the woman. Strangly crinkled and twisted, it was one of the most unusual designs for hair Ranma had ever seen.

Then she saw her classmates.

About twenty or thirty people, her age. They were the most unusual… _creatures_ Ranma had ever seen! Their hair was mutilated in ways that Ranma couldn't even comprehend! The uniforms they wore, all different yet all the same. The women with tight-fitting outfits like her own. The men it seemed wore that weird wrestling uniform. Each person had their own individual design yet each was the same general suit…

…And that was when Ranma almost sputtered in laugher as she finally figured out the oddity she had noticed but not comprehended earlier.

All of them were _perfect. _Not in a metaphorical sense, either. They simply were… perfect. None of the men had any physical oddities. The skin-tight suits showed off toned legs and arms and abs on all of the men. The women were all gorgeous, their lips soft and their skin, pale or tan perfectly depending seemingly on the choice of the person.

Ranma shivered as she realized the implications. _What kind of world have I stumbled into? A world where everybody was gifted with physical perfection?_ It was almost maddening.

Blinking, Ranma realized that she was standing on yet another platform, gawking at students who were filing around the room sitting at desks. Most were seated already. Quickly jumping, Ranma followed after them, just fast enough to not seem like she was being out of the ordinary. She was also eager to get off that _damn_ trans-thing anyways.

The room was well lit though where the light came from Ranma couldn't tell. It was as if the light simply… was. A desk ran along the wall opposite the trans. The desks, behind them, the wall was made of pure glass windows. If it actually _was _glass. Out that window, Ranma could see the sea far below her. Far beyond that and up a huge cliff, she could make out two buildings in the distance. Small from this far away, she could tell without a doubt these were the two incredible buildings she had stood between. Another shiver traveled up her spine as she took her seat, but this was a small one. She was Ranma Saotome, and if she couldn't adapt to this then no one could.

Two rows of desks lined the almost purely white room. The first, where she sat, was the one against the windows while the second one ran through the center of the room. All of them were turned towards the right wall, which actually _was_ a wall despite its bareness. The final of the four walls appeared to be huge projection of sorts, depicting animated montages of a silver haired woman in a royal white dress against a backdrop of stars and planets. Unusual quotes floated behind her as the scene shifted.

'Peace, loyalty and obedience… The path of Serenity is Pure and Righteous.'

-The White Queen

_What the hell is that supposed to mean?_ Ranma blinked as the students filed around her, taking their seats without being told and it wasn't long before there was only one left. _Guess that one's mine_, she figured, claiming the seat as her own. It was a strange chair, she quickly realized, spongy and comfortable beyond reason in comparison to the seats at Furinkan. Looking around her the other students seemed almost robotic in their motions, to the point that Ranma was becoming worried.

_Wow…_ she thought idly as the chair seemingly began to massage her. She sunk into the spongy material, amazed at this being just a normal chair. The other students sat in theirs as well, sinking back in the same luxurious manor.

"Okay. Begin." The prickly Kasumi-esque woman said suddenly.

All of the students pressed a button on the arms of their chairs which had not appeared to be visible before. The right arms of their chairs all lit up as each student held the button down and… Looking around once more at the students, Ranma now saw nothing more than blank gazes on all of their faces.

_Wh-what is happening to them?_ She thought as she warily glanced at the button on her own arm chair.

"Well? What are you waiting for Miss Aukomino?" Snapped the woman in that brisk teacher tone.

Ranma snapped to attention. "I uh… s-sorry…"A bit hesitant, Ranma reached for the button.

"Here goes…" She murmured and touched the button. The arm of her chair lit in a fabulous display of blue light and then, she was gone.

Light all around. She was moving though, how she didn't know through a grey vortex of swirling plasma rays flashing beside her. Numbers. Letters. Formulas. Mathematics. Sin. Cosine. Tangent. Secant. One over Cosine. They were all reverberating. Pounding in her head!

Ages and ages it seemed she swam through the nothingness that was that great tunnel of moving lights. Names. Numbers examples of problems she never could understand being brought to life before her mind. She was… was…

In an instant that seemed an eternity it was over. Her skull seemed to be blasting her with the new information pumping into her head. Numbers and symbols. They seemed to be just floating there in her head. "O-oh… oh god…" She sighed breathing heavily.

Like an impact they suddenly fixed themselves in her mind. Senseless information becoming a mass of understanding in a matter of seconds. The burning headache she sported only moments ago vanished in the enlightenment and Ranma glanced around in awe.

_Whoa… I know trig... _

She did. She knew trig. The same thing that _he_ had been struggling so hard to figure out back in _his_ own world and time was now a firm and concrete definite in her mind. A cosine graph was simply a sine graph shifted one half pi to the right. Tangent was the same thing as a sine divided by a cosine. Cotangent was the opposite. Cosine divided by sine.

_This place is… so… cool! _Ranma thought as a giggle almost arose in her mind. She could see Hinako's face when she got back now! Hahah!

"Hey, Raya! Come on! Let's go!" Said a cute raven haired girl with what could only be defined as 'lightning bolts' shooting outward as her hairstyle. She was slightly mousy and bookish looking to Ranma's eyes but sudden emotions of deep and eternal friendship welled up within her at sight of the girl.

"Coming, Anami!" She said happily. Girlishly.

Blinking hastily Ranma clapped a hand over her mouth.

_What in the world is 'happening' to me!?_ She demanded in her mind. She didn't know what and she didn't know why but something was making her act… strangely. And it scared her more than the trans ever could. Inside her was another personality. Another person. An inner Raya she supposed.

"Raya? Somethin' wrong?" Said the girl, Anami Ranma supposed.

Ranma looked back at the girl, her questioning yet simple innocence. She was genuinely concerned for her friend. Her friend. Not Ranma.

"N-no. Nothin's wrong! C'mon. Let's go!" Ranma stood hastily and began to follow the other classmates towards…

"Aw damn. Not the trans again…" Ranma said almost angrily. Just because she was more scared of becoming a girl than the trans didn't mean the teleportation device didn't freak her out! Anami twisted her mouth with a strange expression but then shrugged and moved to follow her. Where they had been silent as stones before, now these students were all chatting quite animatedly as they filed onto the trans in threes.

It was quick and soon that she Anami and a boy whom Ranma didn't know were the only ones left getting on. The boy struck her also as 'lifelong friend' but his name didn't come like Anami's had.

"Yes!" Anami shouted suddenly! "Lunchtime! Finally! That lesson took a lot longer than usual today eh' Raya? Kojima?"

_Well, that problem's solved. _Ranma thought as she noted the name in her mind.

With that they were blasted away once more and Ranma felt her eyes popping. That? Long!? That had been a _long_ lesson!? Wait… Lunchtime!?

Ranma appeared in a vast hallway. Tables were everywhere for miles and miles it seemed and people to fill them were everywhere! Add to that, they all had trays. Full trays. With… everything! The trays were decorated with everything from steak and potatoes to salads and ice cream to pickles and toast!

Ranma's eyes watered with bubbling displays of cuteness that she couldn't have held back if she had wanted too as she stared in awe. A stationary plate at the center of each table would be emptied by the students around it, glow and instantly be filled with more.

_I… love… this… school! _She thought as she stared lovingly at the trays with such varying degrees of food arranged about them.

"Raya! You comin?"

Ranma's attention was caught instantly and she nodded vigorously as she followed her friend, still keeping one longing eye on the trays. _God, the trays!_

Mildly annoyed that she was subconsciously answering to 'Raya' just as much as she ever did to Ranma, she idly wondered how Ryoga was doing.

* * *

_A wondrous day,_ Queen Serenity decided as she moved through the royal garden, an immense balcony jutting out from a massive crystal spire that was the heart of Crystal Tokyo. It dwarfed every other structure for thousands of miles and indeed was the world's tallest tower, refracting its sunlight and beauty on the populace far, far below… While simultaneously reminding them just who was responsible for their idyllic life. Her children, she smiled as she walked the open edge of balcony. And she was their mother. Children needed mothers, after all, to guide them, to tell them what was right and what was wrong. Wind billowed lightly around her body, swirling the wraps of white tillian spider silk that made up the dress she wore. 

She took a deep breath as the breeze caressed her. Yes, a wondrous beautiful day, because she ordered it so. Perhaps there would be rain tonight. A brief shower if the mood stuck her, maybe something for the farmers at the cities' edge. But no snow. The queen's smile faltered ever so slightly. Neither snow nor ice would touch her beloved home _ever _again.

She enjoyed the warm sun for another few minutes before a presence made itself known at the periphery of the garden. Queen Serenity didn't even bother to turn around, as the proximity of the pure heart crystal made the new comer's identity unmistakable.

"Join me, in the sunlight, Venus."

The blonde nodded stepped out of the shady foliage of the garden, joining her silver hair monarch at the unguarded edge of the balcony. She came up beside her queen and knelt, eyes low. "Your highness."

"Arise, old friend." Serenity smiled warmly. Motherly. "How goes your search?"

"Well, your highness." The Senshi of Venus regained her height. "I've narrowed the field down to twenty candidates. All are exceptionally loyal and have considerable combat prowess."

"If it comes down to it, you know which I prefer." The silver haired queen remarked staring down into the city and the grids of aerial traffic approximately one mile below. "So who is in the front running, if I may ask?"

"Yomata Nai of the Third Expeditionary Lance has my eye, personally." The Senshi reported. "Skilled, absolutely loyal and scored well for temporal mechanics. Some of the others scored better on the latter, but given your preferences…"

"Indeed." Serenity answered agreeably, then lapsed into a thoughtful silence before turning to the blonde directly. "Tell me, what do you think of Pluto's betrayal?"

Venus took her own moment of contemplation before answering in turn. "Your Highness—"

"No, Venus." The queen rebuked warmly. "As one friend to another."

"Of course… Serenity." The Senshi used the name with care as it was luxury afforded only her closest friends and _very_ sparingly. Concern enveloped her face as she turned back to the topic at hand. "I'm… saddened, of course. To think she had fallen so far… Perhaps because she was the last?"

"Perhaps," Serenity nodded with gravity. "I would like to think I am my mother's daughter. Perhaps the memories finally became unbearable."

"I would consider that a compliment, Serenity." Venus returned. "If the price weren't so high…"

Her Queen seemed to lapse into silence as if considering her words. "And the others?"

"Shaken, of course." The blond Senshi answered. "I think Saturn will be the most affected when she receives the news on the front."

"Neptune and Uranus as well, without a doubt." Serenity agreed. "I shall consol them myself. Be that as it may, there is business to attend to."

The Silver Queen's voice seemed to firm up and Venus took it as the end of their personal time. "Your will, my Highness?"

"Pluto's…_departure_ has left the Time Gates unattended. This is, of course, unacceptable." Venus simply accepted the fact with a single nod and trailed her Queen as she continued her walk along the ledge. "Contact Mercury. Few others will be capable of delving into its higher functions and there are even fewer I would trust with such an ancient artifact."

"I shall recall her from leave."

"Ensure she knows I would consider it a personal favor." Serenity replied. "I hesitate to think what Pluto might have done with the gates in her final hours of insanity. A full Sword will accompany her to deal with any surprises."

"Your will, my Highness." Venus stiffened to rigid attention. "Will there be anything else?"

"Hmmm…" Queen Serenity the Fifth cocked her head, her eyes studying the sky once more. "There is one thing…" The Senshi of Venus waited patiently. "Do you think there should be rain tonight or clear skies?"

Venus shrugged. "You know I'm partial to a starry night sky, your Highness, but it has been a while since we've seen a healthy shower or two. The last one was, what, five, six months past?"

"True, true." Serenity agreed, then sighed slightly, as if disappointed. "And this business concerning Pluto has left me somewhat… depleted."

"I understand." The blonde returned solemnly, touching the woman's shoulder gently. Pluto had been her mentor for the longest time. Hell, the woman had been all of their mentors, through time itself in fact. It wasn't necessarily a surprise that the Queen would be affected thus, even through the betrayal. "I'll drop a wave to the weather net on my way to retrieve Mercury."

"Thank you, Venus." Her Queen murmured softly, and the Senshi turned on a heel, walking back into the garden and the crystal tower that hosted it.

Tonight there would be rain.

Rain to wash away the memories.

* * *

At the stares that had been directed at her, Ranma decided it would be prudent to stop gorging on the ungodly tray of deliciousness placed before her. Sirloin Steak and rice were the only things remotely recognizable to her residing on the tray but she took to the other concoctions with gusto. Zaffodils, strange things similar to scalloped potatoes but green, tasted magnificent beyond even Kasumi's cooking. The drink, called Jolt Cola curiously, tasted nothing like the beverage of a same name at home. It made her nostrils flame and was hot, but delicious, flavored like cherry and marshmallow and strawberry all at the same time. 

"You okay, Raya? You seem a little… odd today." Anami asked for the second time that day.

Ranma almost glared but found she was unable to force her eyes to do so. Raging emotions of companionship batted down her anger so strongly she barely even felt it.

"I'm fine, Anami." Ranma replied. "It's just… a weird day."

"No kiddin'! You look worse a burgen-kraut!" Said the boy, Kojima, they had traveled with from the classroom mere minutes before.

Ranma blinked. A _what?_ She shrugged, dismissively and continued politely mauling her steak

The girl seemed to fidget, and Ranma tensed. Silence reigned for a moment, both of them watching Ranma eat the food, the girl obviously about to burst.

And burst she did.

"I can't believe you went this far, Raya! I mean, it's not like it's the heat death of the universe! Naota wasn't good enough for you, so you shouldn't be doing this to yourself!" Anami exclaimed eliciting a few awkward stares from other people sitting at nearby tables.

"D-doing what, Anami?" Ranma asked, trying to discern what it was she had done wrong to provoke such a reaction.

"Your _hair!_ It's hideous! And I never thought I'd see you eating meat! You haven't done that since sixth year!" The girl said loudly, staring intently into Ranma's eyes.

At this Ranma positively gawked! She wasn't one to dress her hair but she'd seen it in the mirror this morning and it had positively _sparkled!_ And that, mostly due to the fact that she hadn't been able to find a decent string to tie it into a braid with.

"My hair is _not_ hideous!" Ranma exclaimed, her mouth being taken from her by indignant rage of her 'Inner Raya'."

Anami gave her a wry look and Kojima barked a laugh. "Sorry, Ray but your hair has got to be the most sickening thing I can ever remember seeing. The last time I saw someone with straight hair like that… untouched by anything like ya're sportin' was in the outer worlds with my dad!" At that, he gave an overly dramatic shiver. "Sickening lot those, outerworlders."

Something about that condescending tone raised Ranma's ire but why she didn't understand yet. And how could Anami say that to her, when her hair was zig-zagging in unnaturally jagged lightning bolt shapes with similar lighting bolt earrings jingling. She looking like a circus freak!

And yet… _All_ of them did, making her a minority of one.

Glancing around, taking note of the fabulously ridiculous hairdo's and don'ts sitting everywhere and not finding a single straight head of hair, not to mention some rather avid stares and giggles pointing at her own red locks, she huffed. Boys with blue or purple hair twisting away from their heads in spikes or made to look like horns. Girls with swirls that looked like well crafted ice-cream cones, all smooth and unwavering.

No, she was the freak here in the land of perfect people and weird hair, Ranma realized sardonically. But then, she'd never exactly been a conformist either. So she stood.

_Screw 'em_.

"If anyone's got a problem ya can tell me ta my face, ya jerks!" She yelled catching the attention of at least three hundred or so of the students nearby. Further than that, no one could see her well enough to care.

At that she began to feel embarrassed a bit at all the stares directed at her. It was an extremely hushed area now, all of them staring at her in shock or amusement, but not silent by any means. There were people as far as she could see and she didn't think she could make out the other end of the cafeteria.

With that, she indignantly walked away, leaving her food and barely noticing it sinking down into the table.

A strange mix of her own confidence and 'Inner Raya's' pride in her own hair had formed that spectacle, but she found herself strangely proud.

Once she calmed down she realized she had almost no idea where to go. They had been sitting on the outer fringes of the room. It appeared to be giant and circular, like some huge multi level mega-food court. Small versions of the liquid crystal path Ryoga and herself had use earlier transported students to the more inner tables that walking to otherwise would be tiresome, and Ranma stepped on one of those ramps moving back towards the wall.

Milky white panels lined the walls nearby one of the many food lines she had just so recently gotten her meal from, and a closer inspection revealed that the panels were dancing with life, projecting text and graphics centimeters into open space. Lacking a clear escape route from the food jungle and her social faux pas, Ranma approached a blank one.

"_Welcome Raya_." The machine said politely as the previously lifeless panel came to life. "_Please select an option_."

Ranma frowned at the name, but couldn't help but to be fascinated by the text options that had materialized in front of her, each accompanied by a colorfully animated picture. The word 'Restroom' had a seashell floating next to it, 'Find' had a waving stick figure, and 'Next Class,', a cartoon thought bubble.

She blinked. That was helpful. She didn't have to go to the restroom but at least now she knew how to get there. Probably. People standing in front of these screens were appearing and disappearing seemingly at random and dread suddenly enveloped her. She was standing on another goddamn Trans. The realization did nothing to lessen her irritation, a state aggravated by the occasional comment about her hair in the side conversation floating about her.

"Feh. _Normal_." She snorted, and pushed a finger through the 'Find' graphic. _Normal _was never a demographic she had spent much time in anyway.

"Please say the name of the person you are seeking." The terminal said in a polite female contralto.

_Helpful little thing_. Ranma thought. "Ryog-er… Rena."

"Person not found. Please speak more clearly, or choose a different name." The panel returned.

Ranma glowered. "Rena."

Several pages suddenly wavered into existence before, all of which highlighted the name she had just spoken. "Three thousand, four hundred and fifty eight matches found. Please clarify your search."

"Oh, you've _got_ to be kidding me."She shook her head wearily, looking from one floating page to the next with a frown.

Anami and Kojima had left their table and were walking towards her now, and she bristled.

"Back. Go _back_." She told the screen firmly, and it complied readily, bringing up the three options once more. She didn't _not_ want to talk to those two, as the entire hair incident had worn away the last of her patience. _Why_ it had even bothered her in the first place was beyond her, but that was something for later review. Now was just not the time and the only escape was the trans beneath her feet.

Ranma steeled her psyche and stabbed a finger into the seashell restroom graphic, promptly obliterating herself once more.

The trans-materialization process was over almost as quickly as she had initiated it, leaving Ranma to shake off the uneasy feeling that every cell of her body seemed to radiate before realizing exactly where she had been transported to. Again she was left gawking.

_The restroom was probably as large as the cafeteria she had just left!_ Guys and girls in and out of uniform- _nude-_ were _everywhere! _Orbs of light floated around the ceilings providing ample light and there were showers, water coming from strange disks that floated in midair above and behind curtains made of hazy mist that most definitely was NOT natural.

Some of them showered alone. Some in groups. Some covered with the curtains of mysterious fog. Water rained down wet perfect beautiful feminine flesh and male muscle all along the left side of the vast chamber that stretched for as far as she could see!

_The showers were co-ed?! _Why weren't the guys falling over from blood loss?! Why weren't the girls pounding them into the tiles?! Why didn't anyone see the PROBLEM here!?

Ranma, of course, had _some_ insulation against naked, wet female flesh and the fact that there were guys evenly interspersed throughout helped, but her male psyche had its limits. Hastily clogging her nose to keep the small trickle of blood from falling out, she turned away to the right side of the hallway.

Along the right were stall; in which she could only assume were toilets. Quantity seemed to be the general theme of the school she had entered and restroom stalls were no exception. There were… so many! Thousands of them. An equal number of floating sinks floated in the dividing marble tile pathway she stood on, as if to mark off the boundary between shower and toiletry, while further down the hall more information terminals awaited, flashing clothed students in and out of the facility.

_Does the entire damn world go to school here!?_ Ranma's cheek twitched upon realizing the sheer scale of the place that had been innocuously labeled "restroom" for her. The words "Eleventh Year Restroom" floated high above, circling a silver globe for all to see.

As Ranma's mouth was hanging open in shock and disbelief, she did not notice the approach of a raven-haired girl or the blond hair boy.

"We didn't mean to make you so mad…"

"Hmph." Turning around at the familiar voice, Ranma's shock was replaced with annoyance. Of course Anami would be able to follow her. The "Find" option would work just as well for Anami on the terminal as it did for her. She didn't actually have any idea how she should reply, or why she was angry but all she knew was that she _was_. The fact that Kojima was with her didn't help matters.

"C'mon, Raya… I'll make it up to you, okay? Strawberry Abiscus Tart-Cream? My treat after class is out? Come on… Please?" The girl practically begged.

The words were like magic in Ranma's ears. Or mouth. She didn't know what it was but her taste buds _longed _for it. Her mind brimmed over with the image of a Strawberry Abiscus Tart-Cream. Mouth watering, Ranma's annoyance evaporated as with the promise of the colorful, swirling treat in her minds eye.

She turned to her friend and flashed a winning grin. "Your treat?" She asked playfully. Anami grinned back and nodded.

Kojima grinned, nudging his compatriot. "Toldja that'd get 'er. Always works for me."

Ranma giggled and then stopped herself, horrified, but Anami didn't notice.

"So… what say we get you a decent hair-do eh, Raya-chan? Come on. That has to be absolutely mortifying for you!" Anami said as she turned back towards the terminals.

"_I'll_ take care of it." Ranma felt anger well up in her again but she suppressed it this time. "I'll find me some string, put it in a pigtail and that'll be the end of it."

Anami gaped but quickly recovered. "Oh... Okay.. If you are sure… Raya. But how will you ever find another guy looking like… _that!_?" She asked.

A welling disgust rose in Ranma's stomach at the same time as bile rose in her throat at the very _thought_! "I won't." She said simply. "And that's that."

"Now that's just not right. Come on now. What if you and some real fine bloke, click perfect and he thinks you insane on account o' that _terrifying_ style!" Kojima said in an affectionately friendly manner.

Indignantly glaring at her friend, Ranma ignored the strange accent the boy had in favor of setting him straight.

"Not gonna happen! I—! W-wait. What are you…"

She turned to look back at Kojima, bright smile written across his face. Suddenly another boy, naked as the day he was born came up to him. The boy, Kojimi, that Ranma's instinct told her was a friend, grabbed the newcomer's chin with one hand in a possessive manner as he sidled up next to the other…And kissed him.

Deatomized four times in one day? Check.

Brain flashed with instant Trigonometry? Check.

Hair traumatization? Check.

A co-ed restroom without groping, touching or perversion? Check.

A supposed best friend- a boy -kissing another _nude _boy like it was nothing? Check, check, check.

Clearly, there was only one thing Ranma's overloaded brain could do.

She fainted.

* * *

Ryoga had just entered the vast restroom awed beyond belief when suddenly an alarm blasted through her ears. _"Alert! Student in danger! Loss of consciousness! C-Sector. Eleventh Year Restroom. Alert Student in danger!"_

Glancing around at the lettering etched into the stalls around her, Ryoga realized that she was indeed in the C-Sector of the Eleventh Year Restroom and saw a swiftly forming crowd of girls and boys- _girls AND boys! Together! In the Restroom! –_gathering around an easily discernable spot. Ryoga, curious as any of them, moved forward trying to get a better look at what or who had lost consciousness.

It was strange. _Damn _strange, which said a lot considering his… _her_ life on average. Boys and girls were standing close together in a crowd, some naked completely, some clothed in the suits, and not a single one seemed to find it awkward as they all crowded around the as yet unseen spectacle. Those not immediately interested in the who or what of the incident were chatting idly, while the occasional comment about … her hair? drifted to Ryoga's ears. What did her hair have to--

The formerly Lost Boy blinked.

_Some of them kissed right there in the showers!_ Boys and girls. Girls and Girls. Even Boys and Boys! _Disgusting!_ But no one seemed to mind. No one cared. And nothing beyond that happened. No groping. No moaning. Just... affection?

God this place was weird! She was glad no one had come up to talk to her. That strange science lesson had been unusual in the extreme, having strange information shoved into her head like that! It had been useless jargon for a few moments when it suddenly situated itself in her mind but it still didn't make any sense. She wasn't even sure if it actually _was_ science. What in the world was Hydrocoresthetics?

Oh well.

Pushing through the mass of flesh, unreal in its perfection, Ryoga saw something that was hilariously funny and frightening to different aspects of her psyche simultaneously.

Frightening somehow won out.

"Ranma!" She shouted, and rushed forward, pushing a few more people out of the way as she advanced towards her sist— _rival_, and knelt. What the hell was up with all the emotional undercurrents?! Ryoga shivered even as she knelt next to the unconscious redish-pink-head.

"Ranma! Ranma! You okay?" Care welled up in her for her most hated enemy and sister, then panic as the girl began to glow from head to toe. "Wh-what the hell is happening!?"

"_Patient: Raya Aukomino_." The voice over the loud speaker began again. "_Stand clear. Emergency trans in progress._"

Ryoga pulled his hands away from the redhead's body as the glow around her suddenly intensified and pulsed, washing out her vision in soft, blinding light. The green haired student scrubbed her sight clear of the spotlight floating in her vision to find Ranma… _Gone._

"What happened to her!? What happened!" She panicked. Ranma was her only ally at the moment and damned be him if he lost her already! Plus… plus… How was he supposed to handle being a girl if she wasn't around!?

"Sh-she… She watched us kiss and she.. just… fainted! I dunno what happened! It's not like we did anything weird!" The fireball-head stuttered. He'd never seen someone faint before.

Ryoga stared at the man for a moment. And then couldn't help but chuckle. Hah! The great Ranma, falling unconscious at her first exposure to homosexuality! What a loser! Hah!

...Not that she would admit to feeling damn near the same sense of complete trepidation that threatened to crush her at any moment. It could have easily been the other way around. This place was too weird, too strange to take in massive, force fed doses. Granted, she had seen her share of culture while being perpetually lost, which was probably the only buffer between her and the unconsciousness that had taken Ranma, but _this_…

Understanding and caring concern welling up and facing off against downright hilarity battled for dominance of Ryoga's actions, and Ryoga began to get a strange feeling that this would begin to happen often. It seemed 'Rena' cared a great deal for her sister and Ryoga knew he would lose this one once again. Why couldn't he stand up to girls!? Even when battling for his very personality!

Suddenly a voice blared across an intercom though this one was entirely human. Also female. "_Alert Ended. Patient is stable. Please return to your appointed schedules_."

Worry for a sister-slash-rival evaporated.

_Heh. Bet she'll be embarrassed as hell when she comes to. God I wish I could'a seen it!_ Ryoga thought with a smirk as her conscience sent her mortified pangs of guilt that she could barely force down.

* * *

_Pulse, eighty over one ten._

_Nueral Activity, above average._

_Auto immune, nominal._

_Nanite Colony, nominal._

_Retrieving BIOS…_

_Pathogens… Negative._

_Viruii… Negative._

_Chemicals… Negative._

_Diagnosis: Stress induced shock, no action required. _

The Nurse looked the fine redhead over nodding. That was exactly what months of training had told her as well, though it wasn't like the Med AI was going to be wrong. In fact, her presence was totally unnecessary, as the AI would have deployed medicines and even surgery on its own if need be, but this was, perhaps the first injury she had seen all year. Heck, the school sick bay would be lucky to see five people in any given year and eleventh year girls usually didn't just fall over.

The blond nurse brushed broad, wild curls from her face, glancing at the redhead. All in all, it was rather exciting!

"Patient awakening. Stand by…"

"Uuuhhhggg…" Ranma's formerly inert hands drifted to her head and began to massage her temples without opening her eyes. "That _had_ to have been a dream… The tomboy's cooking. yeah…"

"Negative." A disembodied voice returned and Ranma's massaging stopped abruptly. "Analysis indicates you have exited REM state and are fully conscious. How do you feel?"

The redhead's eyes popped open. The obvious came first. She was on a well padded bed in a room of white lit by soft white light, while the image of a transparent brain and accompanying text floated a meter above her face. the image seemed to be projected from a faceless support that rose from behind her head and curved directly in the ceiling.

Ranma's cheek twitched. So much for the food theory.

She allowed her head to loll to the right and found a blond haired woman with exotic curls in what she could only guess was a white nurse's uniform cut in the fashion of a Chinese skirt standing next to the bed she lay upon. The girl smiled gently, waiting.

"Miss Aukomino." Ranma's eyes widened and blinked. The woman's lips hadn't even moved! _Wait, no… the voice was coming from… All around? _"How do you feel?"

The martial artist sat up slowly scanning the room for another person. The floating brain and scrolling text abruptly vanished, and Ranma found the room populated by ten other beds with similar stations. "Uh… I didn't faint did I?"

Real men didn't faint. Luckily she had been a girl at the time. And thank god Ryoga hadn't been around…

"An incorrect synopsis. Core BIOS indicates an abnormal spike in brain activity and blood pressure before loosing consciousness." The disembodied female voice countered, causing Ranma to frown. "Do you know the cause?"

Ranma was about to open her mouth when the Nurse preempted her reply with a concerned expression. "Well I can tell you that." She shook her head sympathetically. "I mean, her hair…!"

The Saotome's head swiveled on target and glared into the nurse, cheek twitching. "What the hell is up with you people and—!"

"Warning: Pre-hypertension symptoms detected." The voice interrupted suddenly. "Please do not aggravate the patient's condition Nurse Ayonmi. Condition three protocols met, establishing uplink to Miss Aukomino… Done. Emotive Limiter command line sent to nanite BIOS, five hour effect to minimize trauma. Action logged with branch Medical."

Ranma's intense irritation toward all hair related comments was instantly quashed by… She blinked and shook her head, feeling unnaturally calm. _What the hell…? _She looked at the nurse, then back at the station she had been lying down at. It should have all been very disturbing, but she found she just couldn't get worked up about it. _Like Soul of Ice without even tryin_…"What… what the heck is goin' on?"

"Emotive limiters have been set, duration five hours." The voice replied simply.

"Oh don't worry," The Nurse waved her concerns away. "Just the nans keeping you crystal until whatever is troubling you passes. Medical, is she free to go?"

"Affirmative." The voice replied evenly. "Please report further symptoms to the nearest terminal as they occur."

"Yeah, sure thing." Ranma remarked as she hopped off the bed then frowned. She had meant to put more biting sarcasm into that comment, but instead it came out far too evenly. Instead, she simply sighed, and turned to the next bothersome topic on her list. "Speakin' of hair, got any twine?"

The blonde nurse blinked. "Twine?"

"Twine." Ranma tried to sound impatient, but found the task extremely difficult. "Yarn, string, you know?"

"Will medical suturing serve your purpose?"

The redhead paused as she considered the invisible voice's question. "Eh, don't see why not."

"Specify length."

Now that was a good question. Normally her hair was shoulder length… back in the day. _Where ever that day was at the moment_, Ranma through bitterly. Now the unnatural light strawberry mane easily stretched down the small of her back. "Quarter of a meter oughta' do it."

"Done." A slight hiss focused her attention on the bed she had been sitting on, finding a thin white cord phasing into existence upon the cushion to the length she had specified.

Ranma's hand reached out to grab it on reflex but paused, scrutinizing it closely. It _appeared_ pretty harmless. She shrugged and snatched the string from the bed with one hand while pulling her over her left shoulder with the other.

What she did next with it simply left nurse Ayonmi gawking. It was all over in a few quick flips, and Ranma admired the red cord of woven hair draping down her shoulder and down the front of her left side. She nodded with satisfaction at her handiwork and returned the new braid to her back while leaving the remainder of her hair wild and untouched. "Better. So now what do I do?"

The nurse simply stared.

"Your schedule indicates lunch hour has passed." the medical AI stated. "Next in que: an elective course, followed by social freedom and Artistic Tech. Please alight to the console on your right to make a selection."

Ranma turned and found another of the of the crème ivory panels blinking to life just beyond the shell shocked nurse. Ranma shot her an irritated look with as much force as she could muster, but simply couldn't find the will to force any heat into the feeling. _Nans?_ _Nanites? Emotive limiters?_ The alien words tumbled through her brain, defining her next course of action as she brushed past the Nurse and stepped up to the panel, where her schedule was already floating before her in picture form. Ranma stated the first item that caught her eye.

"Elective Course?"

"Please specify." The light rich female voice she had come to know issued from the panel, and a scrolling menu labeled 'favorites' materialized before her.

The redhead watched as a dozen or so courses were highlighted beneath the header. _Advanced sculpture. Artistic Biology? Abstract design? POETRY? These are my favorites!? _Ranma's brain raced with considerably more calm than the situation merited. And somewhere, deep down, the realization echoed through her. Some part of her looked forward to these electives, alien as the concept was. Her finger hovered just beyond the Poetry selection seemingly on reflex when Ranma consciously snatched it back. _Ewww, no!_ Besides, there was another, more important elective to deal with today.

"Uh, what about… Nanites?"

The favorites cleared and a new page of selections began to scroll with courses vastly different from the ones she had just viewed. The header 'nanites' animated outward and several subcatagories fell away from it. "Hmmm… nanites… construction, terraforming biotechnology, design, molecular architecture, encoding…. what the hell?"

"Selection not recognized, Miss Aukomino." the screen voice stated imperviously. "Do you wish to return to the main menu?"

"Eh, no." Ranma shook her head, picking over the choices. Well, 'bio' had to do with people. 'technology' definitely fit this place to a tee, so… "Biotechnology?"

The selection highlighted green then promptly turned red. "Elective restricted to twelfth year students or above. Prerequisites required."

"Well what the hell can I take then?" Ranma retorted, frustration mounting.

All but one of the selections cleared from the floating menu. "Introduction to Nanite Technology recommended."

That didn't sound too bad. "Do it, then."

Ranma promptly flashed out of existence as the console complied.

* * *

Ryoga Hibiki walked around the park in a daze. Students were milling around her left and right, chatting, chasing one another or simply lazing about the lush greenery, enjoying the warm sunny day. Social Freedom, it was called. The Hibiki snorted. _Recess by any other name._ The wonderful day around her caused the formerly lost boy to take a glance upward in contemplation. If there was one thing she knew, it was the sky. You tended to notice things like that when you were cursed with a horrible sense of direction. It told him what time it was and where she was with reasonable accuracy, even if she couldn't navigate that reasonable accuracy worth a damn. Ryoga frowned. The small, bright dot hanging over head responsible for this wonderful day was _not_ the sun he knew. 

In fact, it looked barely large enough to create the glorious day around him, she noted, yet it had, unnaturally so unless he missed his guess. Of course, missing his guess was extraordinarily easy to do wherever the hell he and Ranma had been dumped. Or _when_ever, the thought burbled up from the edge of her consciousness. Everything was futuristic, so much so it was already tough to discern the function of half the facilities around them without watching somebody tinker with it first. They had been goddamn lucky that most of it seemed voice activated and very forgiving to use.

_And the bodies…_ Ryoga. grimaced mentally. The future alone was disconcerting enough. Getting torn apart at the molecular level and reassembled fifty kilometers away damn near took the cake. Waking up in another person's body? That was enough to send him over the edge right there. Not only that, but it was becoming more and more obvious that these simply weren't bodies they wore… they were _people_. People with lives in progress. People with baggage.

The green haired girl alternately known as Rena Aukomino ground her teeth together in frustration. Not that she could remember a damn thing about that person, but whatever was happening, _she _was leaking through. Not much. Barely anything tangible, but just enough for her to realize how incredibly screwed up the situation they were in actually was.

It all _had_ to be Ranma's fault somehow.

It wasn't _completely_ hopeless, though. Not only could she navigate now, but she wasn't cursed to become a small black pig with the application of cold water. Neither was any small concession, but she was still wearing the body of a girl, a fact that did bad things to her psyche if she thought on the matter for any length of time. And what did Ranma do about it? Laugh it off as if it were just an inconvenience.

Depression rolled in like a storm front over Ryoga, but failed to descend down upon her with its usual potency. Instead, the neo-girl simply sighed decided to concentrate on where she was going before she ran into—

"Rena!"

The name stopped her like a leash, the involuntary reaction irritating Ryoga to no end. She didn't even have to turn her head to sight the person calling her name, as it appeared that her absent wandering hadn't been so absent after all… Like some weird ass directional curse in reverse, leading her to a specific tree so that somebody that knew her- _Rena_ –could call her by name.

Worse yet, she _knew_ this person. Oh, she couldn't name the white haired girl waving her to save her life, but recognition was definitely clicking within her brain… _Or Rena's brain_, Ryoga through darkly. _And I can't just ignore her… Already made eye contact…_

Ryoga Hibiki forced a smile for the frail girl with a sculpted bun for her distinctive hair style. "Uh, heh. Hi!"

"Is your sister okay?" The girl emoted concern with wide eyes, "What happened to her?"

_Ranma. It's always about Ranma,_ Ryoga fumed mentally. "The idiot saw two guys kissing." The green haired girl rolled her eyes. "Moron."

The girl's concern seemed to wash away before her very eyes, replaced with a startled, curious look. "But that's… you…." The as yet unnamed friend shook her head, now clearly confused. "Are you _okay_, Rena-chan?"

Ryoga froze mentally, knowing that he, she had slipped somewhere. "Uh, yes! Why would you think something's wrong?!"

"Of course, passing out because she saw two guys kissing _is_ weird," The white haired girl continued, pressing a finger to her pale lips. "But you're being pretty harsh, don't you think?"

_No, he's an idiot; trust me on this_, Ryoga thought at her, but maintained the artificial smile plastered on her face. "Maybe you're right." She nodded with absolutely no sincerity whatsoever. "What do you think caused it, then?"

"Oh, that's obvious." The girl nodded with her, apparently convinced by the act. "The kiss probably reminded her of Naota-san. It was a rather public break up. I know _I'd_ be devastated."

Ryoga blinked. Then blinked again. _She couldn't be saying… Nah. Because if she was…_ The girl barely managed to stifle the sudden laughter that threatened to escape, instead reducing it to a cough. _Ranma… and some other guy… were…_ The Hibiki began to cough in earnest.

"Are you alright, Rena-chan?"

Ryoga nodded frantically, waving her off while her mind whirled and her lungs hacked. _Ranma… Ranma had a boy friend! Ranma and Naota, sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! Oh God! This will piss him off to no end!_ The formerly lost boy turned girl stifled another round of gut busting laughter before calming herself to the point where she could breathe normally, then offered the mystery girl an apologetic look. "Eh, something I ate. Sorry, Ceta."

_One mystery solved_, Ryoga thought at the slight surprise as the girl's name popped unbidden from her mouth. _Only three thousand, six hundred and eighty to go. Give or take a million._

The white haired girl now known as Ceta gave her friend a queer look. Could food even _do_ that? "It's… okay. Probably a shock to you both." She shrugged, leading Ryoga back to the tree that felt very familiar to her partner. "But how about that flash on Hydrocoresthetics?"

The change in topic was painfully obvious, as was the reason behind it, something Ryoga embraced with mixed feelings. While she was more than happy at the turn in conversation away from Ranma or her gaffs in character, it was yet another step onto shaky ground. It was unbelievable, but she _knew_ what hydrocoresthetics were. The knowledge had been literally _dumped_ wholesale into her brain. Even so, there were a lot of dark areas in that knowledge, like puzzle pieces waiting to be applied. She knew _what_ it was, but damned if she could make heads or tails on theory behind it since it built on concepts _Rena_ evidentially already knew but he did not. As such, there was only one thing she could do in the face of such a knowledge deficit…

"Uh, yeah. It was… pretty… neat."

"Understatement." Ceta sniffed. "Imagine what that would do to a gravity well unshielded!"

Ryoga's brain chewed on the concept. Well, a core would be incredibly powerful, the lesson taught her. Without a shield… Her eyes widened as key facts fell into place. Assuming the gravity well in question had an electromagnetic field, it would turn the entire planet into a superconductor, whatever the hell that was. That tidbit was entirely unnecessary as she instinctively knew it would be very, _very_ bad for anybody living on said planet… which explained why the cores themselves were only assembled and operated in… space?

That thought alone sent Ryoga blinking.

Not just space, the green haired Hibiki realized. _Deep_ space. _Way_ further out than the American's space shuttle could even dream of reaching.

Her friend nodded vigorously, misinterpreting the reaction. "Exactly! One fried dunlopper! Still, I think we can use the general principle in this year's science fair!"

Ryoga Hibiki's brain was barely keeping with the turn of events that continued to assault her. _Science fair?! What the hell?! I'm a martial artist, not a scientist, dammit!_

"Of course, the aeon field might be a bit hard to stabilize, but…" Her voice trailed off as she caught sight of something behind her. "Oh, Raya-chan! Anami-chan! Kojima—What did she do to her _hair_?!"

Even as her 'friend' waved the three over, Ryoga's lips began to form a mischievous smile. A shard of guilt panged at her for what she was about to do, but she pushed it down and turned around to greet the trio.

"Hey, Anami. Kojima…Raya." Ryoga's grin widened as the thee joined up with her and Ceta. "Are you okay… _Sis_? Did you faint because it reminded you of… Naota?"

All eyes turned on Ranma, who felt an inexplicable pit develop in her stomach. While nobody would ever call Ranma Saotome a genius at reading people, it was obvious that the pig boy- girl –knew _something_. She didn't even know who Naota was yet, but Ryoga obviously did, and he was being a bastard with the new information. The light redhead frowned with the revelation. "Uh, no… of course not."

The shaky reply was less than convincing and Kojima punched a fist into an open hand in self recriminating enlightenment. "Och! I shoulda' realized! Damnit, if Neji and I had a brain in our heads, kissin' in front of ya like that! I… I'm really sorry, Ray."

Ranma's cheek twitched ever so slightly with the memory, even more at the nickname, but failed to generate any sizable disgust over the topic. Part of that was Raya. Whoever's body it was she was inhabiting now, the blond haired boy all but radiated 'lifelong friend' in her subconscious. The other part, however…

"No, no… it's nothin'." Ranma-Raya assured the boy, then turned to Ryoga. "We need to talk… _Sister._"

"Oh, I think we should stay _right here_." Ryoga returned smugly. "Around friends. Friends that can _help_ you… after such a devastating _break up_."

All movement in Ranma's body ceased as the pit in her stomach turned into a sucking void. Despair flared up briefly before being quenched… _quenched by the nans_, she reasoned, all too calmly. Still, the direction of this conversation was not to her liking, emotive limiters or not. A break-up clearly implied a relationship, one that seemed to produce nothing but anxiety throughout the background of her psyche.

It wasn't hard math to add up, and Ranma glared at the green haired girl. "We _really_ need to talk. Now."

"She's right!" Anami proclaimed. Ryoga grinned insufferably as the girl unknowing played into his mischief. "You need to be around friends right now!"

"I really don't…"

"I know you had some good times with _Naota_, but really," Ryoga-Rena remarked in casual tone, still smirking. "No _guy_ is worth this much suffering."

Ranma's gaze narrowed dangerously. It was hard to get angry because of the limiters, but anger wasn't absolutely necessary to put the idiot in his place. "I'm warnin' ya, bacon brains…"

Everybody in the group sans Ryoga stared at the girl and the uncharacteristic insult that fell from her mouth. Ceta's mouth hung open. "I know you're feeling bad about the break up, but—"

"And what are you going to do about it, _Raya?_" Ryoga challenged, her grin climbing to insufferable levels as she herself climbed to her feet. "Oh, I know! Maybe find another boyfrie—"

The roundhouse kick took Ryoga by surprise and nearly took her head off with it as Ranma stepped around Ceta to engage him. While he was more than happy to watch Ranma blow his top _and_ his cover, there was something distinctly wrong with her behavior. Her body language and attitude were barely registering anger, but that kick… His grin faded slightly as he hopped back and took his own attack stance. Future or no, there was tradition to be dispensed with.

"PREPARE TO DIE, RANMA!"

Three friends watched in horror as two sisters- their friends! –charged into one another and began unleashing moves only seen in zero-gee gymnastics and campy fighting holos. Raya executed an impossible spinning kick that Rena deflected and countered with a punch that the redhead profiled away from, grabbed the arm and attempted to pull the green haired girl through.

Instead, Ryoga-Rena, stepped into the pull as soon as she realized her error and attempted to push a hard snap kick into Ranma-Raya's torso, causing girl to break contact and roll out, panting and sweating. She took the moment to gather her second wind and launched herself into the air, attempting to overwhelm the formerly lost boy with an aerial combination, which the green haired Ryoga either evaded or blocked as efficiently as possible before re-launching his own offensive. The two traded blows for another minute before breaking contact, sopped in sweat.

"Stop it!" Anami balked, stepping between the two. "You're sisters! Sisters shouldn't be fighting like this!"

"Lookin'…" Ranma panted, struggling to pull breath from the air around her, "Kinda… outa shape there… P-chan…"

"You hit… like… a girl… you…. jackass…." Ryoga retorted irritably, wiping the sweat from her own forehead. Around them, a small gathering of students had collected, gawking at the two fighting girls. "And don't… call me P-chan!"

Ranma snorted with sedate amusement. Unless she missed her guess, they were _both_ hitting like girls… and feeling it, regardless. It was barely even five minutes into the fight and her muscles were _sore_. Even the deflected blows hurt! If there was one thing that was becoming painfully apparent, it was that Rena and Raya weren't martial artist by _any_ stretch of the imagination, nor were their bodies even remotely conditioned to endure the punishment that was routinely inflicted upon Ryoga and Ranma.

Ceta was on the verge of crying, tugging on Kojima's arm frantically. "You have to stop them! They'll hurt each other!"

"Sister's aren't supposed to fight!" Anami screamed, trying to get the pair's attention. "Kojima!"

"No way!" He stepped back shacking his head emphatically. "Rule number one: Nevah ever get involved in girl fights!"

"KOJIMA!" Both friends yelled in unison, causing the blond to flinch.

"Rule number two…" He took a step back, "Ta hell with rule number two. I can barely do what they're doin' in the z-g, let alone normal grav! When the heck did they get so…"

"Grrrrr…." Anami growled menacingly, pointing at the sisters. "Help them before I tell Neji on you!"

"Oi, that's a dirty trick!" Kojima, balked and stepped forward. "I'll break em up, but—"

He never got the chance as both combatants reengaged; lashing out at one another with blurring punches and kicks while twisting in and around one another. The group of friends ceased their attempts at breaking up the sisters and instead found themselves watching… watching like some horrible grav-lev accident playing out in front of them; horrified, but unable to tear their eyes away. Raya had become a dancer, attempting to gain an advantage by twisting in and out of her sister's guard, who in turn was trying to overwhelm her with blow after blow. It was a fairly even match, until both broke contact once more. Rena's long green hair a sweat tangled mess while Raya's new style- a ponytail bound by _physical means!_ –had faired much better, though the girl was no less exhausted.

"Think it's… time to… finish this…" Ranma's burning lungs eagerly sucked in gasping breaths as she tried to maintain her confident visage. Even that was hard as all but the deepest emotional spikes were being muted by the emotive limiter, effectively pulling the plug on any confidence based attack Ranma took up a stance and instead prepared to dispense one of her most tried and true techniques.

"I'll… I'll kick your ass…" Ryoga labored, taking up his own stance while unease echoed through his brain. Part of that was undoubtedly Rena and her feelings about fighting her own sister. The other part was squarely his. Ranma didn't look mad and really wasn't throwing the insults like he usually would. Either way, he was right. It was time to finish this, if only because the crowd gathering around their 'scuffle' was getting larger.

Not that being downright exhausted had _anything_ to do with it either.

Ranma pulled her left fist back. Ryoga produced an index finger. A light redheaded girl and a long green haired girl charged headlong into one another.

"BAKUSAI TENKETSU!"

"TENSHIN AMAGURIKAN!"

* * *

The room was eight by eight and had all the trappings of a prison cell. The corner held a plasteel cot with no pillow or padding while the other corner housed a recessed hole for waste disposal…of all sorts. A rudimentary sink was built into the wall above the waste unit, while the wall itself was an uninspiring flat gray, illuminated by the glow of a sole lamp hardwired into the ceiling. 

All things considered, the wanderer had spent time in worse places under the Queen's rule. Far worse, but this was the price he paid for anonymity: two and a half weeks in a small compartment on the ass end of a long haul galactic freighter. The slip gates of Eleria would have been faster, of course. He could have stepped through the ring, been streamed into sub atomic matter, banked across the event horizon of half a dozen black holes and reassembled on old Earth within seconds…

…And then be promptly vaporized as Imperial Security realized that an enemy of the empire had finally decided to step out of myth and legend after three millennia on the rim and into the Queen's very pond. The slip gate's local automated defenses would bracket him and while he was busy dealing with those and a platoon or two of Heavy Intervention, the Senshi themselves would arrive and that would be that.

Death would be a tender mercy if they managed to take him alive.

The man gave his thoughts a mental shrug and peeled off his tunic, throwing the aged article of clothing to the floor. It was followed shortly by his pants and continued until the black haired man was completely nude. Turning, he thumbed the magnetic clasps of a rugged travel bag and began to pull fresh clothing whose styling was several generations more current than his discards. He could afford the rugged look in the slums of Eleria, but on Earth? The last thing he needed to do was stand out.

The wanderer cocked his head as the very walls around him vibrated and keened. He took note of the tremors and buttoned up the final clasp on his black double breasted tunic trimmed in crimson before pulling on the cloak, adjusting his new garb for comfort. It was almost time.

A subtle whine permeated the air throughout the tiny compartment and he knew Newtonian physics were once again taking control of the five kilometer long freighter as it dropped out of super luminal transit. That would mean only one thing. He stepped over to the pile of discarded clothing and kicked them into the disposal node before activating it, sucking the fabrics away to be atomized.

"Head's up, Kamen. We're passing Pluto." A rough baritone crackled through the static laden overhead speaker. "Imperial inspectors are inbound, call it ten minutes."

Chiba Mamoru acknowledged the warning, nodding to nobody in particular. "I'll be ready."

Matching action to word, the former king of Earth retrieved a chrome device from his packed belongings, palming the derringer sized unit in his hand while retrieving a thin clear vial less than a finger long and filled with a pale yellow liquid. Chiba slapped the tube into the device and rolled up a sleeve, pushing the sharper end of its curves into his flesh before thumbing the trigger. Only the slightest hiss betrayed its activation and the contents of the vial were instantly dispersed into his bloodstream.

_There goes fifty thousand credits_, he mused, dropping the silver device into the disposal bin where it was in turn reduced to component atoms. All things considered, they shouldn't find him or the compartment he was occupying at present. The freighter was easily five kilometers long and the room buried deep in the superstructure. The inspectors would run a scan, maybe embark a few officers and that would be that. After all, the cargo was legitimate and captain was reliable. No reason to waste time scrutinizing a known quantity.

…Unless that captain was a sympathizer and old, _old_ friend of his, of course.

Thankfully, they didn't know that, because people who associated with him openly tended to meet untimely demises. Chiba Mamoru's jaw clenched at the cold, hard fact. For that same reason, barely anything remained of his network of contacts on old Earth, and an organization of thousands had slowly and methodically been purged down to a handful. _Loyalty purges_, he shivered, setting the bag down at the foot of his cot and leaned back onto it as his destiny weighed heavily on his chest.

For now, it was the best he could do. His people would do their jobs and fate would tend to itself. In either case it was time. _Past time._ Past time to see his daughter, past time to see his love…

…and _far_ past time to kill the woman that was once Usagi Tsukino.

* * *

"...And look at you both! A dislocated shoulder! Bruises! Cuts! Blood! Honest to goodness _blood!_ What were you two _doing?!_ You're sisters! And don't think you can use Naota as an excuse young lady! To think they had to use an emotive limiter on you! And don't think this is all about Raya! How could you take advantage of your sister like that, Rena?! You're supposed to be the more level headed of the two of you! Do you understand me!?" 

"Yes Mama!" Both girls chorused, unable to make eye contact. The fact that the reply came out in unison went unnoticed by either as the fierce tongue lashing continued.

"I thought I raised you girls to be better than this! You _do_ remember who the house patron is, right?! Is this becoming of her?! Of _them!?_ If your great, great auntie were here right now, you know what she would do?! She'd make you _walk_ to school! And no holos for weeks! You're just lucky school let you off with a warning! _A fight!!!_ Take it from me, young ladies, Behavioral Tuning is _not _an elective you want on your permanent records, do you!"

"No Mama!" The guilt ridden chorus continued.

"And if I find out you ever, ever, _ever_ so much as glare at each other, I'll ground you girls until your first k! Your social circle will be so old they'll have crystals growing off their heads before they see you again! Oh, woe be unto me for having raised two such rebellious and ungrateful daughters! Now I want you to promise me right here and now that you'll never fight each other again! Sisters don't fight! Now promise!"

"Yes Mama!"

The green haired twenty something woman that had been unconsciously labeled 'mama' for the past half an hour fixed them with a hard glare for another minute before lurching forward and gathering two surprised martial artists into a fierce hug. "Don't ever, ever, ever do that again! You had me worried sick after the school waved me on your condition! I know the last few days have been rough, but that's no reason to fight amongst yourselves! I was so worried! But don't think that will get you out of your punishment."

Ryoga stiffened. Ranma likewise took note. "Punishment?"

The woman released the pair and began to pace the living room with a finger on her lip in contemplation while the girl that had originally seen them off that very morning- the person they had come to know was an elder sister –smirked from her mysterious melting chair, casually flipping through an animated magazine.

"Yes, punishment," the mother continued. "Something that to remind you that you are, in fact, sisters." She paused in her pacing. "Two weeks sharing the same room, I think."

"Sucks to be you." The elder sister commented as she continued to thumb through her magazine.

The mother paid her no mind while the green and red haired girls were left blinking respectively. That was her idea of punishment? They were martial artists, for cryin' out loud! Both had seen the corners of the earth without luxury or modern convenience. Both had battled creatures mundane and super natural. And now the penalty for their latest infraction was…

"In fact, I think an early bed time is waiting for the both of you." She concluded, folding her arms in a self satisfied manner. "I've already conjured your pajamas, so off with you."

Both Ranma and Ryoga looked from their 'mother' to one another, unsure of exactly what to think before being ushered off to bed while the older sister snickered at their backs.

Fifteen minutes later found Ranma and Ryoga sitting on the bed in their pajamas… staring. Ironically, it wasn't the pastel blue nighty on Ryoga that was producing the stares, nor the pink one adorning Ranma. All things considered, they were annoyances overshadowed by the strangeness that had loomed large throughout the day.

"This is creepy." Ryoga mumbled as her eyes swept what was, by all rights, her room. Rena's room. Whatever. All in all, the place was a mess, though even that wasn't what had either martial artist to wonder. Whereas Ranma- _Raya's_ –room had been a home to all things feminine in nature, hers was dominated by science. Complex models sat on the end table in various states of assembly while flat gray sheets of the flexible media their older 'sister' had held lay scattered throughout the room.

Both martial artist's eyes were invariably drawn to the room's corners. In the first floated an orb of light, small but some how lighting the entire room. In the corner opposite another ball of light, this one blue in color, was melding and deforming in midair much like the yoke in a lava lamp. The blue deformity was surrounded in a vortex of blue light about a foot or so in diameter, stretching from the floor to the ceiling.

"I ain't sure which room is scarier at this point." Ranma quipped as she picked up one of the plastic flexies before her feet randomly, examining one side of the flat gray surface, then the other. Her red eyes picked out a small dimple on the corner of the flexie and her finger found it, bringing the plastic sheet to life. "What the hell?"

Another gray vortex swirled around her, though this one was incredibly weak compared to the one that had enveloped her in the classroom at school.

Load upon load of incomprehensible knowledge fluctuated throughout her brain in a senseless mass, much like before. It was over quickly, far more speedy than the one in class had been.

Again, she felt nothing but useless information. Then it clustered together to form coherent facts… facts that should have been unbelievable.

"Oookay…" Ranma murmured. "A.. Uhm… Apparently, well… the… the trans. How they work? They harnessed a black hole… I think. They don't call it a black hole though… they call it a 'Uncontrolled Void,' and then after they take the energy or something they call it a 'Contained Void.' It's how they blast people apart… I don't wanna know _how_ they put them back together.

Ryoga just stared blankly.

For some reason the fear that really _should_ have been felt at having that level of information shoved into her head didn't arise. The redhead touched the dimple switch once more and life died away from the sheet, featureless gray replacing the animated color that had danced across the surface. Ranma set the sheet down carefully on the bed and looked at Ryoga. A smirk enveloped her face.

"I wouldn't have figured you as the super genius type, P-chan."

"You're one to talk, lover girl." Ryoga bit back, watching Ranma flinch as the insult hit far closer to home than even he could have foreseen. Instead of the insult she had been expecting, Ranma's cheek twitched and her red eyes burned back at her.

"Shuddup, Ryoga."

"That's really getting to you…" The formerly lost boy marveled, setting aside their rivalry for the moment. "I mean it's really messed up, but… And what the heck was up with our fight earlier, anyway?"

The strawberry blonde sighed as her resolve drained away and laid back on the bed, staring into the crème white ceiling. "Beats the hell out of me. Whoever this girl is, I'm getting the feeling she really liked the guy. Tears her up just ta hear his goddamn name, and _I_ feel the effects." Ranma laid on the bed inert for a moment before snorting softly to herself. "Think I'll kick his ass for her next time I see him."

Surprisingly, the internal pit within her quieted with the idle musing.

"And the fight?" Ryoga pressed, clearly curious.

"Stupid nans." Ranma panned.

The green haired girl simply waited for the forthcoming explanation. Ranma propped herself back up. "We got machines inside us, Ryoga."

"Bullshit." Ryoga blinked, then frowned. The only thing that kept her from calling the girl beside her an outright liar was the fact that they were surrounded by flying cars, instant learning and, of course, getting blasted to and fro at the subatomic level.

"Ain't bullshit." The redhead continued. "Smaller than the eye can see. You took that hydrowhateverthehellitis for your elective, I took Nanites 101 after getting an emotive limiter slapped on me."

Ryoga just looked at her as if he were speaking the foreign language she effectively was. "And what's this have to do with…?"

Ranma shooker her head. "Tiny machines inside us doin' lots of things. They heal ya faster, keep ya healthy, help ya learn… and apparently change your brain around. After I fainted—" The green haired girl snickered slightly until being silenced by a withering glare. "Like I was sayin', they zapped me to some weird futuristic nurse's office after the bathroom thing and they ordered the machines inside us to screw around with my brain to calm me down."

"You're kidding."

The martial artist shook her head. "Nope. Remember the fight? Couldn't get mad at you, and trust me, I wanted to."

Ryoga's face held a dumbfounded look for a moment as she digested the explanation. "So they can do this to us… anytime?"

"Sure as hell looks that way." Ranma grumbled. "It was just too damn weird. You were teasin' me that entire time and I just couldn't get mad. I had to kick your ass on principle more than anything else."

"Hmmf. Don't flatter yourself." Ryoga stood off the bed, smirking. "I kicked _your_ ass."

A slow grin spread across Ranma's face. "Dream on pig-boy."

Both girls smiled at one another for another minute before the green haired girl's faltered first. "This is some serious shit we're in, Ranma. I mean, what the hell is going on with us? We're in somebody else's body! I'm a goddamn girl! The only thing that's kept me from going nuts over that is everything else going nuts around us!"

"Beats the heck out of me…" Ranma sighed, clearly at a loss herself. After a time, both thinking in hopes of discovering the reason for their temporal travel to this futuristic world, Ranma spoke again. "Something, _had_ to have brought us here. And whoever… _whatever_ it was has to show itself sooner or later."

Another pause, while Ryoga sat down on the floor amidst all the cacophony of books and gadgets lying there. "Hmm…" She murmured.

Ranma turned to look and found Ryoga's gaze fixed upon a photograph sitting on the table just behind the green haired girl. Ryoga turned back to Ranma and, pointing over her shoulder at the picture said simply, "Naota."

Ranma's heart skipped a beat. "Dammit." She muttered, as she rolled herself off the bed to walk over to the photograph and take a closer look.

There they all were. Kojima, Ceta, Raya, Anami, Freya, another name that popped into Ranma's mind upon seeing the picture, Rena, and…

"Naota.." Ranma panned. She deliberately touched the picture in the middle and was happy to receive the desired effect.

As expected, it burst into life extending into the open air as the picture in the hallway, and numerous giggles elicited throughout. "Okay Everyone! Say Mozzarella!" Exclaimed a disembodied voice that Ranma could only assume was the person taking the picture.

Everyone shouted joyously as directed, Save for Naota himself, smiles and giggles written all over, and just like that the picture died and faded.

Looking across the images Ranma was shocked by some.

She practically gawked at her own mutilated hair! It was silk smoothed into the form of a Chinese straw hat… and she was tipping it!

Rena's was no better, jutting straight upwards in spiked unruliness. It... Rena's at least… didn't actually look too bad on her. If she were going for biker chick.

Freya was a brown-haired girl, whom they had not seen today that Ranma remembered. Taller than any of them save Kojima, her hair in the picture was formed into a spiked crown circlet pointing both up and out of her head simultaneously. She wore an elastic under-suit of some sort, silver by the look of it, covered by a jacket that hung all the way to her knees.

The jacket was on fire.

Anami wore a similar jacket, blazing with electric bolts of energy jolting haphazardly about covering her, leaving a similar skin tight suit visible beneath. Her hair was the same as it had been today.

Everyone else appeared quite normal, well as normal as it got for these weirdos, save for Naota himself. The boy appeared to be every bit as unusual as Anami and Freya were, but in a more mundane way. His hair, unlike the others, was not shaped in a way impossible for Ranma's home. Just supremely difficult. Jet black, it appeared completely wet and yet smooth as silk. All of it rushed back as if he were frozen facing the wind, though not to unbelievable levels. It looked vaguely similar to using an extremely large amount of hair gel.

He wore a red jacket that stopped at the waist as a normal jacket should, and a pair of plaid pants that went to the middle of his calves. Plaid! His wore a pair of red stockings, colored the same as the jacket that reached up beneath the shorts.

Of all the people in the picture, themselves included, he would have been the least noticed back in Nerima. Then again, Nerima wasn't exactly 'normal' either.

The boy, despite his somewhat cold smirk, was the third shortest person there, the only two shorter being Ryoga and Ranma herself.

"So… that's him…" Ranma said absently. The picture tugged at her gut. "Doesn't seem like much."

Ryoga couldn't help but not that Ranma's hands were clenched particularly tightly around the metal frame of the simple photo. "So… what should we do?" She asked, looking from Ranma to the picture and back, feeling abnormally lucky that, to the best of her knowledge, _Rena_ had no such current interests.

"Go to bed, I believe I told you!" Came a sudden 'Mama shout' from the other side of the door. "And not one more word!"

They eeked and were in the bed faster then either of them would have believed possible.

"Light Out!" Rena exclaimed once under the blankets, and gracefully the bauble blinked out plunging them into darkness, hindered only by the blue vortex lava lamp in the other corner.

It was some time before either were brave enough to speak again. Ranma was the first.

"Ryoga…" She muttered… "Do you feel half as pathetic as I do right now…?"

Ryoga glared to the red-head, facing her. Their faces were the only things visible; the rest of their bodies were huddled beneath the incredibly comfortable blankets.

"This is your fault, Ranma!" The ex-bandana-clad girl whispered harshly.

"My fault!" Ranma whispered back, her tone hoarse. "Wha'did I do!?"

"I… I don't know! But it has to be your fault! Everything else is!" Ryoga murmured. She turned away.

Ranma did the same in indignant anger.

Her thoughts, all angered in some form or another, all directed at Ryoga, served to sooth her frayed nerves. Perhaps she'd wake up tomorrow and this would all have been just a big dream…

She hoped it did.

Her own life was bad… but much more of this could drive her insane.

* * *

**Authors' Notes -**

Alright. So I lied. Ozz didn't give me any author's notes for him to put down here. Ho hum. Meh. Well. This is Materia again as you all know, and with any luck you enjoyed this _monstrous_ (by my standards) chapter. It'll probably be a little while till the next one but we do have most of the plot lined out, therefore probably shorter than you had to wait for this one. Heh heh.

Special thanks to Metroidvania (I think i spelled it right and everything... hope so! Hope that's the right name, too...! I didn't talk to im' at all. Heh.) who preread for us, and also to the unnamed people who recieved this before its update (that being today.)

Well guess thats pretty much all I've got to say. If ozz wants some A/N's on here I'll edit em in when he gives them to me.

Secondary notes. Everyone rejoice! (I am!) Ozz's muse for Foxcat is back! Hooray! I'm currently writing on like nine different stories, plus school, plus work, plus possible romantic interests coming my way. (Can you believe it?) Obviously a bit busy heh. But I promise eventually I'll get back to Mark in the Lace. I always do. Dropped the Chobits cross and the Potter fic is kinda iffy now for those who know I mentioned it. Got a new idea now. No spoilers. Hope ya read when I come out with it.

So to end this little rantlet I suppose the best thing to do would be to ask for reviews! We both like them! Well, I know I do. Heh heh.

Till Next!

Materia-Blade

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	3. II

_Disclaimer:__ We, in no way shape or form, own Ranma ½ or Sailor Moon._

**The Anarchists**

A_ Ranma ½ _Fanfiction by_  
Materia-Blade _and_ Ozzallos_

**- - - - - II - - - - -**

"Are you done yet?"  
"No."  
"How about now?"  
"No."  
"I'm bored."  
"Play a game with me."  
"No."  
"Please?"  
"No."  
"I'll be your best—"

"NO!" The Guardian of Mercury roared, snapping at the eight year old girl who had been hovering over her shoulder for the better part of two hours. The green haired girl hopped back with an 'eep!' and cringed as the Senshi whirled around, stalking the child with flashing red eyes. Teeth ground down as her patience found its wit's end.

"I am _not _your best friend. I will _not_ play a game. I will _not_ have a pretend tea party with you and I _most definitely_ will not tell you a story!" The blue haired woman advanced on the wide eyed child, menacingly bearing her teeth. "What I _will_ do is hack your primary core, severe your data buses and decompile your AI set! How does _that _sound?"

The little green haired girl's face welled up into a scrunching frown, her eyes turning shiny. "You're a big meanie, Ami-chan!"

The guardian let out an exasperated sigh, rubbing her temples wearily. "And one of the _first_ things I'll be doing after I'm done dissecting your protocols is to program you to use my given name! It is _Mercury_!"

"Nyah!" The girl pulled at her eyelid and stuck out her tongue, prompting Mercury to shake her head and turn back to the time gates.

On any other day the ancient construct would have stood before her in all its glory; A solid oak frame housing two intricately carved double doors that towered twelve meters in height. She knew from her recovered memories that the finest artisans had been put to work on the gate itself, and while it wasn't by any means necessary in order for the gates to function, the first Queen had felt that such a timeless artifact should be ordained with as much grandeur as possible. Now that detail was gone and the gates themselves were stripped bare, exposing the inner workings of the gates themselves—hardware that was in excess of thirty thousand years old and still one of the most advanced pieces of technology in existence. Now all that finery had been stripped away, leaving the endurium framework, banks of crystal monomolecular optronics and kilometers of glowing pink data filaments.

_A genius had built this_, Sailor Mercury marveled, forgetting about the girl at her back, _and it will take a genius like myself to get it back on—_

"Whatcha thinking about, Ami-chan?"

The blue haired woman twitched violently as the high pitched voice jerked her from the privacy of her own thoughts from over her shoulder. A lance of ice flashed into existence within her grasp and she whirred around with a snarl. "BEGONE WITH YOU!"

The end of the curved icy blue hook flashed through the air, its arc immediately intersecting with the girls neck and passing cleanly through it. The girl in her school uniform thousands of years out of date never stopped smiling. "Awww, don't get mad, Ami-chan!"

Sailor Mercury recovered from the strike, glaring murderously at the unharmed girl. "What possessed that traitorous woman to create the likes of you?!"

"But I'm cute!" The girl whined piteously. "Can I have a cookie?"

"You couldn't even HOLD a cookie!" The blue haired woman burst. Sighing in misery, Mercury ground her teeth and banished the ice glaive back into subspace before turning back to the ancient construct that was generating what was quite possibly the most annoying hologram in the known universe… Chibi Pluto.

The Senshi rubbed her temples, sensing a migraine forming. The late Pluto's avatar was also what was barring her from carrying out the Queen's mandate to bring the gates back online. The small, seven year old child was now quite literally the gate's keeper, circumventing every single one of her attempts to bring them back to something resembling a functional status.

"Maybe I should pull all of block 3801, junction 'B'…" Mercury mused, pressing a finger to her lip in contemplation, studying the exposed banks of glowing crystalline technology and the miles of pink monofilament wiring that connected it. By removing the assembly imbedded within the left door just to the right of her head, she would be able to disrupt the AI's tertiary logic gates, thus—

"Won't work."

The guardian's cheek twitched again, turning back to the avatar. "And. Why. Is. That?"

"'Cuz my higher logic nodes are directly tied the gate power core." The girl explained with an insufferable smile. "Once the node capacitors drain, the encryption kicks in and wipes the gates clean."

"Then I'll sync up a damn naquadria generator to the node, pull your higher functions and keep you on life support while I reroute the gate's protocols!" Mercury bit back testily, only to face the child's condescending tsk.

"Now you're just being silly._ Everybody_ knows I run off a zero point singularity stabilized between the orbits of Pluto and Charon," She chided the older woman. "A naquadria power plant would be insufficient for the task."

_Calm… calm…_ The guardian chanted to herself._ It's only and AI…. It's programmed to be this loathsome…_ A new thought intruded upon the mantra_. Or maybe Pluto was just that annoying as a child…?_ Mercury composed herself with that thought. "It doesn't matter. The generator will keep you online long enough to accomplish a complete reboot of the gates. By the time you come back online, I'll have complete control over your BIOS."

"I wouldn't do that if I were _youuuuu_…" the child chirped back in a singsong voice, grating on the woman's nerves further.

The sugary sweetness of the warning all but made Mercury puke. "And why not?"

"Well duh," Chibi Pluto shook her head. "I mean, you _could_ power the gate down, but the temporal grid exists in a continually energized state. If the gates lose power for even a pico-second…"

"…The entire goddamn matrix unravels." Mercury finished, slapping her head. No, there was no way she was even about to reboot the Time Gates now. Without the temporal grid whole and intact, the gates themselves would be completely useless, and she might very well find herself spending the next three hundred years rebuilding their data tables. She glared at her tormentor. "Who the hell designed the gates to only operate in a continuously powered state?!"

The girl shrugged. "Don't ask me. But it was the only way they could get around the Eisenburg-Montgomery quantum loss equations, if I recall correctly. You still aren't up to the old Silver Millennium Ami-chan. But you're doing great! Only another... four thousand years or so at your current rate!" She paused, then smiled brightly. "Can we play a game now?"

Mercury snarled and was about to unleash some very choice words when the sword of guards stationed silently around the gates snapped to ridged attention. The commanding officer of the platoon called out, "Her Highness, Queen Serenity, arriving!"

A thin line of white blazed against the solid black landscape, crawling to a height of eight meters before expanding to the width of a large doorway. Six women in full crystalline battle armor stepped out of the gate of pure while, taking up a position around it with Hellbores at the ready. Seconds later, the silver haired queen herself stepped through, her white gown flowing. The last wisp of translucent cerulean spider silk cleared the doorway and the gate itself collapsed in both width and length, rendering itself an insubstantial spec before ceasing to exist entirely.

Queen Serenity stepped past her own personal guard, offering a friendly smile to Mercury, a smile that faded when she caught sight of the green haired school girl next to her. The frown deepened the moment the child spoke.

"Usagi-chan! Yay!" The small girl ran forward, bouncing around the queen. "Let's play a game! Can we? Please? Please?! I spy with my little eye something… um…" the girl made a show of thinking the matter over, staring about the mist like quality of the pocket of zero point singularity she resided in. There weren't many colors to choose from. "Um, something gray!"

Serenity raised an eyebrow at the girls antics for a moment, then continued on to the Time Gates and Mercury as if the child were beneath her notice. "The construct from your reports, I assume?"

The guardian of Mercury dropped into a reverent kneeling position, nodding. "The same, your highness."

"I want a cookie!" Chibi Pluto bounced over to the pair. "Ami-chan promised me a cookie!"

Mercury spared the hologram a hateful look before rising back to her full height. "Yes your highness. It has been extremely… _resistant_ to my efforts to dispose of it. I do apologize."

The Queen of all known space looked upon the child in dismay before turning back to her guardian, her demeanor relenting. "It is to be expected. Our former sister held this post for nearly as long as the gates have themselves have existed. I would be surprised if it were as easy as flipping a switch, even for one as gifted as yourself." Mercury simply nodded in spite of the rounded praise, awaiting her monarch's judgment. Instead, she turned back to the girl. "Construct, why do you oppose my will?"

"I'm not a construct!" The child retorted imperviously. "I'm a Setsuna!"

"You are a composition of ones and zeros aligned in a crystalline matrix." Serenity responded with deceptive calm. "Nor have you answered my question. Why do you oppose my will?"

"Hmmf." Chibi Setsuna snorted. "You're not a nice lady. You used to play games with me! But now you're so mean!"

"And were you a real child, I'd assign you to a behavioral tuning class myself." Sailor Mercury griped, though her Queen paid her no mind. Inwardly Mercury scoffed at the idea of Serenity ever... _playing_ with this horrible, horrible hologram!

"Construct, I was queen over Sailor Pluto and I am your queen now. I am heir primus to Queen Serenity the first." Serenity shook her head. "Cease this foolishness and turn over your core functions to Guardian Mercury."

"Can't make me, nyah-nyah!" The girl taunted, sticking her tongue out while taunting the most powerful woman in the universe.

"Nothing opposes my will, AI." The queen frowned, turning back to the massive double doors. "Mercury, step away from the gates."

"Oooh! Are you going to do a trick?!" Chibi Pluto gushed, watching eagerly as the queen began to glow white. "Can I watch? Are you going to pull a rabbit from your gown?! Will you murhhhaaaaaaa…"

Sailor Mercury watched as the child simply froze, her incessant prattle falling into a monosyllabic stutter. The green haired girl's form flashed static for a moment before reforming. Her stare journeyed back to her glowing queen, who had now enveloped the most power artifact ever known in its own soft glow.

"I have healed the galactic core, construct." Queen Serenity the second smiled placidly. "Purging you from these gates should be a simple task."

"I… errrrrrggg… meaaaaanieeeeee…. Aaaaaa…" The girl continued to twitch, her holographic animation appearing to skip frames between static and visual noise. Suddenly, she straightened up, eyes utterly devoid of the sparkle they had held only moments ago. "Security breach. Unauthorized access attempt. AI compromised. Auto destruct in five seconds. Four seconds. Three seconds. Two seconds…"

Serenity the Second released her power on the gate, staring at the child. The glow dissipated immediately and Chibi Setsuna simply stood there for a moment, her count down halted. Suddenly, the girl blinked.

"I TOLD YOU SO, I TOLD YOU SO!" She began to hop around, insufferably full of herself. The slightest tick found its way to the Queen's face. "Nyah-nyah nyah-nyah-nyaaaaah!"

Serenity turned make to Mercury, who was wiping a layer of nervous sweat from her forehead. "And there is no other way to dispose of this… creation?"

The blue haired woman nodded meekly. "Disposing it is not really a problem. Disposing it within a reasonable timeframe, however, is. Our former sister put a lot of work into sabotaging the gates. It's not something that could have been accomplished inside a few weeks. Firewalls, tripwires, dead man protocols…All tied into _that_."

The queen followed her motion, finding the Chibi Setsuna playing with a doll she had, at some point conjured for herself. Serenity the Second studied girl for a moment. "Perhaps we are going about this in the wrong manner." Mercury looked puzzled, doubly so when a warm smile enveloped her queen's face. "Little girl?"

Chibi Setsuna instantly perked up, smiling brightly. "Hi, 'Sagi-chan!"

Queen Serenity held her tongue admirably, maintaining the motherly smile. "I do apologize for being so short. I haven't slept well lately."

"It's okay!" The girl's eyes lit up. "Oooh! We could have a slumber party! I could conjure some pajamas and we could have cookies and watch a scary movie on the gates…"

_The Time Gates… The most powerful artifact ever created by mankind… being used to watch a scary dee…_Mercury's head pounded as the girl continued to chatter, the same chatter she had already endured for two weeks straight without reprieve.

"All in good time, child." The Queen nodded amiably. "For now, I would ask a favor of you."

"A favor?"

"Indeed." Serenity nodded pleasantly. "I require use of the time gates. Could you help me with that?"

"_Maaaaaa_ybe!" The girl chirped in a nauseatingly cute manner. The silver haired matriarch paid it no mind.

"And what would be required to secure this… _help?_" She asked, inciting Chibi Setsuna to make a big production of thinking on the matter.

"Letsee… I want a nibi-nibi chuu doll, a pony, dance lessons, and you to stop being evil." She finished the whimsical list with crossed arms and a sour look.

The Queen arched her eyebrow skeptically. _Let's play along for now… _"Of course. I promise. Please relinquish control of the time gates."

"Say 'please'."

Queen Serenity took a deep breath. "Please?"

A wide smile ordained the green haired girl's face. "Nope."

Another deep breath and the monarch composed herself. "Why not?"

"You're not family, silly!"

The statement left the Silver Queen blinking. "Not… family…?"

"The gates are locked to my genetic line, of course." She shrugged as if the fact meant nothing.

"Wait." Sailor Mercury inserted herself into the conversation. "You mean the only people that can operate that gate now are those of Pluto's own linage?"

"Yep!"

At that, Serenity grew irritated internally. Of course, it didn't show outwardly. Her emotions never did. "My dear, is there any way you could make a small exceptio--!"

"Nope!" The girl interrupted, her voice sickeningly cheerful in its denial.

The avatar of Setsuna Meiou and the Queen of the new Silver Millennium stared at one in a standoff for a moment before Serenity snorted with contempt, breaking the stalemate. "Mercury, with me."

Mercury remembered a time only a few weeks ago when she might have grown enraged at the AI's attitude towards Her Highness. Now she knew better. No amount of rage would make the insufferable girl show respect. Not even for the authority of the White Queen. The very thought still sickened her to her core though.

Serenity began to walk toward the perimeter guard and the Senshi of Mercury fell quickly in step beside her. "Your highness?"

"What will it take to disable this bothersome virus?" The White Queen asked, ice leaking from her hushed voice. Glancing out of the corner of her eye she saw the girl had produced a holographic jump rope and was proceeding to jump it. She tripped. Repeated.

"Honestly?" The Queen nodded. "It'll take half the palace techs, a small city's worth of hardware and my complete and undivided attention for the next two hundred and fifty years. That's factoring in the current rate of technological advance."

Serenity raised an eyebrow. The hologram had scraped it's knees and was now bawling quite emphatically. Mercury tried desperately not to glare daggers at the construct, but she was not capable of the perfect Serenity the queen was known for. This childlike AI simply _shouldn't_ be so _formidable._ Yet it was.

"This is unacceptable." Serenity returned. "You are indispensable at my side and two hundred years without you there will stretch the limits of my patience. While i do not doubt your genius, neither do I doubt the that of those who created these gates."

"Then what shall we do…?"

"Pull Pluto's genealogy." The Queen returned decisively. "I want a complete list of any family with a fifty percent match or better to her DNA, the younger and more impressionable, the better."

"Do you suspect a trap?" Mercury considered the implications for herself, working through the angles of a genetic lock place upon the most powerful artifact in the known universe.

"Undoubtedly." Serenity nodded, staring at the gates superstructure. "How better to position yourself than to install an agent from your very own bloodline?"

"Obvious, but effective." The guardian frowned at the level of duplicity needed in her former comrade to pull off such an attempt. "It all but forces us to compromise the gates, and I doubt a still-baked clone would fool that monstrosity over there."

"Nor I, which is why you shall limit your search to family Pluto had an absolute minimum of contact with." The silver haired Queen's eyes flicked back to the holographic AI, currently chasing a similarly conjured butterfly around the gates. "We shall accede to the late Pluto's demands, but do so on our terms, understood?"

"Of course, your Highness. By your leave?"

Serenity nodded and moved to leave the room, but before she made it, the other woman stopped her.

"Highness?" Mercury questioned, in a tone that was... unusual for the woman at best. If Serenity had to place it, she would have said it was apprehension. Which was strange. Serenity had seen the Senshi of the first planet craft and execute an operation that had ended the existence of half a solar system without breaking a sweat. What could make _her_ apprehensive?

Serenity turned and glanced at the woman, to see her actually biting her _lip!_

"What is wrong, my friend?" Serenity asked emphatically, and older sister sympathizing with a younger. For now.

The woman seemed to fight with herself a bit. Very strange indeed. Then, her composure came back. "The AI has decided to call me... Ami. Does that mean anything to you Highness? I... don't remember anything from before the Second Fall, but I know we were all there. Is it possible that I--?"

In her mind, Serenity shivered, though outwardly nothing showed. The Second Fall. No. Best not to think on that. _'Mamoru left me then... He attacked me!' _The thought ran through her mind before she could stop it, and it took effort to remove it from her mind.

"You've always been Mercury. For as long as I've known you. My sister. My friend. Don't forget that. And don't let an AI make you question the truth of my words. I love you, my Hand." Serenity interrupted, sliding her slim hand through her old friend and servant's waist length blue hair. Even as she did so, she remembered a younger girl. A different girl with cropped short hair, a lighter shade than it was today.

The woman smiled, her faith in Serenity restored with ease. Mercury had always been one of her most loyal, second only to Mars. "Of course, Serenity. I should never have doubted."

Serenity let the fringes of a grin cross her own face. "No one is perfect, my friend. Not even I."

Mercury gave a nod, and a small smile. "Highness, I would love to see this imperfection you speak of someday, just to know whether it actually exists..."

Mercury was the only one Serenity could smile with. The only one she thought she could allow to have those tiny jokes. However, Mercury was poking a wound she didn't even know existed.

_My imperfection stretches back far further than you could ever know, Mercury, _Serenity thought; her mood apparently showed in her aura, if not her face.

"I... am sorry, Highness." Mercury murmured in a chastened voice, a chill running down the back of her spine as a wave of displeasure washed around her.

"Find Pluto's genealogy." The queen's pleasant demeanor was gone now, replaced by the sheet of frost that had come with the memories. "I want it, along with your suggestions on who to pick, and reasons why before I arrive in Crystal Tokyo."

"Yes Highness." Her Guardian and Hand bowed, hastening from the room.

Serenity allowed a slightly malicious smile to creep about her lips. _Good girl. _

_

* * *

_

Ranma stepped off the trans once again, shivering violently as her ki lines rewired themselves.

_I hate that thing, _she thought as she stepped about shakily, making sure she didn't fall. Stepping out into the central courtyard, the long moving arch, that she now knew was also a trans, she waited, letting the thing carry her while mentally preparing herself for another day of this.

A month and nothing. _Nothing_. No enemy had shown itself. No _wish_-_granting_ entity. No vile curse set by Happosai to spirit them away from home and into their current state had been uncovered. Nothing. No agent of any type had yet revealed itself to them.

Walking slowly out of the trans room's spacious interior Ranma winced at the harsh onslaught of late afternoon sunlight.

_Another beautiful day,_ she mused as she walked across the campus she had come to know as the _Orcus University of Knowledge and Enlightenment_.

_Orcus U,_ she chuckled yet again from the privacy of her own thoughts. An idyllic day, just like the one yesterday and the one before that… Except for the fact that she was locked again, in somebody else's body, in the future, with _Ryoga _of all people, who also just happened to be locked in somebody else's body as a girl.

_Par for the course_, Ranma groused lightly. Aside from the general weirdness that seemed to plague her existence, it really wasn't that bad… Well, at least Raya's life wasn't that bad. The worst that had happened to her in seemed to have been a break up with that boy. The redhead shivered at just how deeply that still affected her. There were times where she felt like just breaking down in tears, while others she just felt like ripping his guts out and spitting on them… Instead, she settled on staring hot death into the boy whenever he entered her line of sight.

He managed to stay away from her. _Far_ away from her. Or, at least he had anyways.

_Which is for the best, 'cuz I'm a guy, after all._ Ranma bit her lip with the thought. The fact that she even had to mentally voice the affirmation was worrisome enough. Back in Nerima, it really wasn't an issue. Here, she had bits and pieces of memories to back it up. _Not just memories… Another person's goddamn life!_ She took a deep breath, forcing the anxiety that fact alone created. _I'm me, I ain't her and I'm a guy. Yeah. _

The reassurance would do… for now. At least until some other unexpected fragment of the girl's life wormed its way into her psyche. Today, for example, she finally gave into the overwhelming urge to mold clay. Clay_ for God's sakes_, she balked mentally. _I'm a _martial_ artist, dammit, not a…not an artist!_

And halfway through the class, she found part of herself traitorously enjoying the process of molding and sculpting the malleable material, at least until the class instructor wandered by and made some comment about her 'endeavor into abstract art' as he put it. Not that the hand she was tasked to sculpt looked much like a hand, but it hurt nevertheless.

Ranma stopped, taking in a deep breath of fresh air while other students engaged in their free time about the campus. Some lounged. Some chased others. Still others walked hand in hand. All things considered, it was actually a nice break from the norm. Locked, yes. Riding shotgun in somebody else's body, yeah. Stuck in the future, right.

A refreshing break from fiancee's, angry rivals, drugs, schemes, old ghouls, perverts, overbearing parents and kidnapping martial arts gods? Most definitely.

…All on top of the fact that she was actually _learning_; learning more than she ever had in her entire life. God forbid, she was almost enjoying it. Classes hardly consisted of the long, tedious lectures she had become accustom to. They were instead made up of knowledge dumped directly into their brains, followed either by the next class or an open discussion period about what had just been 'learned'.

Getting blasted into atoms was still one of the worst experiences either he or Ryoga had ever endured in their lives, but that aside, it was a fairly idellic existence.

The only question now was when it would all end.

The strawberry blonde's eyes moved from the environment before her and into the sky where the sun hung as a tiny dot overhead while another faded globe floated just above the southern horizon. Charon, she identified the celestial body looming large in the bluish purple sky. One month ago, she didn't know the first thing about astronomy. One month ago she hadn't even known what a Charon was. Now, she knew it was the sister satellite of Pluto revolving around a central point in space about four billion kilometers from earth.

_I wouldn't know a normal life if it walked up and bit me on the ass_, she groused, tearing her eyes away from the orbiting planet. It had taken both herself and Ryoga a week to realize just where they had landed, though Ryoga had mentioned his suspicions the very first day. _Would explain why the sun is smaller_, Ranma thought with a mental shrug. As it turned out, the sun currently providing her with light and warmth was a _man-made_ object.

Yeah. People could _make stars._

She gave a sigh as she turned her attention away from the sky. One month. That was how long they'd been stuck here in these pitiful excuses for bodies. The agent who'd brought them here, whether is was a being from above, some sinister demi-god out for revenge from Saffron's death, or perhaps just someone from Nerima who found a bit of something magic and wanted to get rid of them… whoever it was that had done this to them had not shown itself. Nor did they seem to intend to do so… ever. While that wasn't the only reason for her downtrodden state of mind, she wished it was.

There were other sources to torment her though, and they protested _anxiously_ when she tried to avoid them. Her _friends_ as she believed her alter ego Raya called them were the most incomprehensible people on the face of the Earth... or Pluto, she amended, nearly snarling with the thought as well things she would find herself dwelling on if she remained around them for too long a period of time. Her mind began to think like theirs did; Raya was demanding their attention but Ranma would not allow that. It was as if the girl had been part of a hive, all of their minds controlled by some hideous similar quality that they all shared, brainwashing them into conformity.

The sum total of all of their conversations, all of the entirety of their goals, all of their dreams and hopes were tied irretrievably into the one thing Ranma was beginning to hate more than Happosai himself. _Boys. _She groused in her mind. _I hate boys! _Knowing how much like Akane she was beginning to sound no longer stopped the devilishly cruel thoughts her mind was beginning to come up with, involving the death of Naot—

"Dammit!" And yet again, was girl inside her brought back to Naota. Had the girl ever thought of _anything _besides him? Ranma didn't know but if this was the way _any_ of the girls back in Nerima thought, even only _half_ of this about him, then perhaps her pop's fanatical prejudices against women were not so fanatical after all.

It had been a month since Naota had ended it with her… and they had only had one conversation since. She well remembered_ that_ meeting. It had been two or three days after her and Ryoga's first day waking up in this strange place. Naota had felt guilty.

Ranma had felt…

* * *

_It had only been the second day the when she first laid eyes on him, finding her gaze settling upon the approaching boy quite unwillinging, causing a slight tick to take up residence upon Ranma's brow. The black waving gelled hair and green eyes on pale skin were unmistakable in her recollection. Naota. Raya's Ex. And he was walking straight towards her. Against her will, Ranma felt her body tense in both anger and fear. The anger she knew was her own emotion, the fear, Raya's. She ground her teeth down with irritation, her only consolation being that the girl she was riding in apparently had plenty of her own anger toward the approaching boy. Of course, that was mixed together with self-doubt, and a thousand other emotions that Ranma felt blasting her all at once._

_It made her shiver, and not in a good way._

_What does this idiot want? She thought, teetering between annoyance and dismay. _

_Two days. Getting used to technology and devices that might as well have been magic to her was bad enough. Getting blasted into atoms was damn near insanity inducing. but a boyfriend? She'd taken solace in the fact that she hadn't had to talk to Naota and that it could have been worse. She'd just as soon avoided him for the rest of the time she spent stuck in this body, and she'd hoped he would do the same. _

_Apparently not. _

_It was social hour, which of course didn't make sense because for some reason social hour actually lasted around three hours. It was sometime around mid afternoon, and Ranma was sitting with her friends. Raya's friends. Ranma, personally, had been trying to think up the most creative ways she had to maim them!_

_Boys this! Hair that! Adding to that, the girls spoke at speeds Ranma could only comprehend with the added assistance of Raya's subconscious. She wasn't sure how she did it, but somehow she could sort of… tune the world out and let the actions of what Raya would say and do just… float out of her mouth. But still, it wasn't perfect... Crucial pieces of what made Raya a coherant identity were obviously missing with Ranma's inclusion, but she could tell Raya herself was there.. as if the girl were half asleep and nagging at her conscious; Nor was there a damn thing she could do about it. On one hand she felt bad for supplanting the girl's identity for her own. On the other--_

"_Oh god, Raya! He's coming over! It's Nao—!" Freya began. _

"_Ah, damnit. " Ranma's anger bubbled over shocking every friend present with the interruption. She supposed it was mild compared to her and Ryoga's fight two days before, but still it was a shock. Ranma didn't care. She felt Raya's anger at her indifference brimming like a dormant volcano. Or… maybe more like a benign tumor. _

_Steeling herself, Ranma turned her eyes onto Naota and favored him with a glare she knew Raya could never produce on her own. _Hell, the girl probably doesn't even know what a glare was.

_Satisfaction radiated within her with Naota's visible flinch, Satisfaction that definitely hadn't come from her. Okay. Maybe the girl did have a bit of a mean streak. She revised the early estimation and notched a point of respect for the girl._

"_Er, Raya…. Can... uhm, can we talk?" The boy asked. Nicely. So, damn nicely. Everyone was just so nice. Ranma would kill to hear someone shout 'Prepare to die.' Perhaps, 'Ranma you idiot!' Even, 'Nihao airen!' sounded pretty good. Anything! _

_But no. She had to deal with girl problems!_

"_Hell no! Creep!" The irritated strawberry blonde burst._

_This time her friends weren't shocked and appalled. They were mad. Oh, sure they didn't actually look really mad. But Ranma knew well enough to read the subtle hints. Slightly narrowed brows. Disappointed sniffs. Her friends were pissed at that. Raya's friends... Ranma correctled with an unexpected hint of dismay. Regardless, their anger was nothing next to that of Raya herself. Guilt that was not her own burst through her in spades, along with an equal swelling of self loathing. Now that was weird, as was the rational that Ranma was ultimately feeling those emotions toward herself._

_Ugh… Chicks._

_Ranma had never envied Ryoga so much as she did right now. Ryoga's friends were all sciencey! Didn't give a crap about boys or emotions or hair or… She shook herself and gave an indignant huff, advancing on the boy. He flinched again, but not as harshly as the last time, and this time Raya felt guilty again. _

_I don't really have the right to ruin this stupid girl's love life. If she wants him it's none of my business... Ranma thought dismally. She watched him twitch again, and felt Raya do the same. _You deserve better, though,_ Ranma finished to Raya directly._

_Ranma couldn't tell whether the conscience inside her actually understood or not. It just seemed resigned, as if maybe she knew Ranma was right but that couldn't stop her from feeling bad about the whole thing. From missing him._

_It made Ranma want to gag. _

_Her anger brimming, Ranma shoved passed the boy and they walked away from the gaggle of girls, over to a secluded part of the courtyard, stomping ahead so she didn't have to look at him, or listen to his nervous shuffling as she led the way._

_Silence held for a moment as he re-approached. Ranma stood, hands crossed under her breasts. The perfect stance of indignance. _

"_Listen… I've been feeling really bad, and… with that fight you and Rena got into a few days ago scaring everybody… I just… wanted to make sure we are… okay?" It was a question. The boy was scared! _He had better be,_ Ranma snorted, fighting off the urge to mash his face into the stone pillar he stood behind._

_For Raya's sake. _

_Of course._

"_I've never been better, thanks." She replied, not deigning to look at him. Inside, Raya's anger sizzled. "I didn't even know what I was missing! It's great!" _

_'Raya is miserable.' She thought dismally._

_If only it were fury that the girl was feeling! That's what it should be. And Ranma would be able to handle an angry Raya. But this weepy, mopey girl inside her who wanted nothing more than to drop into this idiot's arms was driving her insane!_

"_I'm sorry! I… I just felt bad. A-and I had to find out if you were okay. I still care about you, Raya-chan." The boy said. "It's just..."_

_Let me chestnut fist him. Just a few hundred times?! Please Raya! Ranma whined in her mind. The disapproval she felt over her own words was enough to give Ranma her answer. Somehow it seemed that the girl was almost touched by his words. _

_That irritated Ranma even more._

"_I'll be fine as long as I can avoid _you_." Ranma hissed. _

_Naota flinched again, but then his eyes narrowed. "I… you know we weren't going anywhere, Raya. I never took you for one to be bitter. Obviously, I made the right choice." With that, he turned and began to walk away._

_If Raya had felt guilty before, now she was overflowing with it. As if demanding that this conversation couldn't be left at that. And without any desire on her own part, she felt a need to make things right with the boy. A need that, again, wasn't her own._

_'_Do I have to!?' _She begged. The emotion intensified if that were possible._

_A loud and very annoyed sigh bellowed from Ranma before she turned her eyes to the boy's back. "Wait." She murmured._

_He stopped, but didn't turn around. "What for?"_

_Ranma almost glared again. "I… look, I… I'm sorry okay? You're all that she's… I have been thinking about these past few days, and I just… got mad. Sorry." _

Why did you make me say that?! _Ranma thought hatefully._

_Then, she felt herself preen smugly. Damn girl._

_The boy… grinned. "I've never seen you mad before today. I wasn't sure if you were capable of it. I'm glad."_

_Me neither, _Ranma thought.  
_  
"But you deserve someone better than me anyway. Thanks for listening." Naota smirked, and then continued walking away, and out of Raya's life.

* * *

_

Somehow… Raya had recovered after that. She'd begun to stop thinking about him every waking second of every day, though the anger and hurt still seeped up every now and then. Ranma on the other hand, had begun feeling nostalgic.

The girls at home… Ranma was beginning to miss them tremendously, even though the break from them was nice if she could ignore her sub-conscience playing tricks on her. Kasumi's cooking, despite the new and unusual foods in this strange place, was still, without a doubt, beyond compare. Akane's smile, the rare times that she showed it. Uc-chan's friendship. Even Shampoo's hair-trigger schemes that bordered on obsession were thought of fondly. All the things of home she had taken for granted were gone in this place.

Hell, she even missed taking out her frustrations on the enraged titan that was her rival, and only companion in this strange world. Battle, and the art of training had been repetitively denied her and Ryoga. Sparring was akin to leprosy unless you were doing it aided by strange facilities called Zero Gravity Rooms, in which for some reason the speed at which anyone could move was easily as fast as Ranma had been in her normal form at top efficiency. And there was no gravity, of course.

_It must have something to do with the nanites,_ thought the coral-haired girl.

Her curiosity peaked by the nanites, not to mention glad to have gotten her mind away from the devil's subject, she stood and headed for one of the nearby booths. Her free time was almost up anyways. Only another twenty minutes or so, and it wasn't like she would spend it _with_ anyone. That was a chore in and of itself.

"Raya-chan!" A voice called excitedly, causing Ranma to grimace.

_Spoke too soon,_ she mused belatedly.

She turned slowly around to the speedily approaching girl and allowed Raya to take over a bit of her attitude. It was the only way she could _possibly_ fake a hint of joy at seeing the girl.

"Yeah, Ara-chan?" They insisted on the suffix. Calling any of her friends by their own name without the weighted 'chan' resulted in instant assumptions of anger or depression. Not that depression wasn't on the veritable menu of emotions plaguing Ranma at the moment, but her friend's knowledge of that depression would definitely not cause it to ease. Was it really so much to just want to be called your own name?

Ara's blue hair, doing its level best to imitate the curved section of a candy cane as was her norm, barely budged as the girl skipped giddily towards Raya. "Raya! I got tickets!"

Ranma experienced a harsh blast of déjà vu at the words, recalling them from the first photoglyph she'd ever played on her wall at home. Annoyance welled in her at her acceptance of the term to describe home when the only place she truly consider home was the Tendo dojo. But that was overruled by the reaction her mind instantly wanted to jump to.

Ranma forced down the instant 'jerk' this body had been trained for with effort similar to what a drowning man gave to staying above water. And she _still_ couldn't get all of the excitement completely out of her tone. "How the hell do you always _do_ that Ara-chan!?" Ranma questioned, trying desperately not to squeal.

Ara winced. She'd not grown used to the cursing Raya had taken up ever since Naota had ended it with her, and was particularly disapproving of the rough language that had grown into her friend's tongue. But it could be forgiven. Raya and Naota had been nigh on inseparable for at _least_ a Martian Year! Of course their breakup would have some heavy detrimental effects on her personality.

She'd grow out of them in time, Ara was certain.

"Well, you know my Dad. He's always pretty good at getting tickets because he usually meets the bands before they perform on Pluto anyways. His job is so great, don't you think? When I get out of school, I'm _so_ going to take over his job for a few decades!" The girl exclaimed.

Take over a job for a few _decades_?

Ranma's mind boggled and not just at the unbelievable age of the people here, but also at how this girl's mind could skip from one subject to the next, seemingly without even thinking! Then again, that really wasn't so abnormal, she supposed, and she'd grown used to the abnormally long lives that had somehow become commonplace. It was as if people had developed immortality scientifically. Based on everything else, Ranma wouldn't really be surprised if that had been the case. She'd found, through a series of questions that she'd had to skip around to avoid exposing her ignorance, how old her own parents were.

Her mother was almost seven thousand years old.

Her father was nine hundred and twelve.

A bit of disgust welled in her but Raya crushed it with resolute anger. The girl beat her for dominance as often as Ranma won out over the battle of wills.

With a start, Ranma realized that she had responded and had been talking without thinking about it. The girl before her seemed transfixed though.

"Really? I didn't know you liked them so much, Raya-chan!"

Ranma's eye twitched. She _hated _when Raya took over without her even realizing it. "Y-yeah! Heh. What can ya do, ya know?" She shrugged, allowing a bit of her own personality to meld with what the girl she resided within wanted.

Ara beamed, but then, Ranma didn't think she'd ever seen the girl use any facial expression _other _than beaming.

"Ranm-er… Raya! I need to talk with you!" Came the sudden cry of a familiar voice.

Ranma turned to see the green haired girl rushing towards her. Strange that. Ryoga, or _Rena_ hadn't really had much reason to _rush_ anywhere lately. But now she was. Now she was booking it.

"Rena? What's up?" She asked. Rena, unlike Ryoga, was usually quite calm and collected and the effect had been rubbing off on the boy inside. Unlike Ranma, Ryoga seemed to be genuinely appreciating this. Yes, he whined and moaned like the porcine idiot he was about the hell Ranma had subjected him to, and did genuinely curse the female body he was in, but for the most part he seemed… at peace.

Well…

Right up until she made her freaking room blow up… _Again!_ It didn't help her 'sister' was dealing with the same urges that she was dealing with, though instead of boys and hair, Ryoga was trying fight the impulse to build complex engineering wonders without all the knowledge to do so successfully.

Ranma was actually happy to see her calm, collected, chemical-and-mechanical-bomb-toting sister. Be she revenge seeking rival or loving elder sister, the green haired girl could still get her away from the friends and creepy feelings being near them always brought forth.

"Something's happening!" Rena exclaimed. "The Queen. You know, the Queen who's sposed' to be the ruler of the entire galaxy and all? She's coming _here!_ _Today!_"

Ranma shrugged. She didn't see the point. "And? So what?"

Ryoga rolled her beautiful eyes and pulled the strawberry blonde away and began whispering into her ear. "Idiot! Don't you see? She's the ruler of the entire galaxy! If anyone would know something about how we got here it would be her!"

Ranma gave her elder sister a half lidded glare. "Queen of the _galaxy_, Ryoga."

The pseudo girl nodded vigorously. "Think about it! We might be able to figure out how to get home! If anyone knows how to—!"

Thud!

"Baka! What makes you think the queen of the galaxy would give a damn about two school girls? We're nobodies here Ryoga! We're like babies to these people! And what makes you think she'd _believe _us, huh?"

"Ow!" Ryoga emoted annoyance with the casual blow, but otherwise passed it off with indifference. "Hey, you never know--"

"Aukomino Rena. Aukomino Raya. Please Report to the headmistress's office. Immediately!" Came a voice exuding loudly across the courtyard and far, far beyond. Students stopped, suddenly a-twitter. Those that knew either of them stared curiously and it took a moment for either girl to realize the just what the commotion was about. Every announcement to this point had been a pleasant female digital voice. This one had been spoken by a live person; one directly requesting _their_ presence.

"Well, damn." Ranma turned to her green-haired compatriot, and their eyes met, their thoughts running in the exact same direction. "You might be right."

"Damn right I am!"

And grins split their faces. They dashed away towards the nearest trans, eagerly hoping that this was the thing they'd both be waiting for. The way back home.

* * *

Serenity sat somewhat comfortably in a large chair procured for her by Headmistress Einkota. A good little girl. Quick to obey. Properly cowed. It was nice to see such awe on the eyes of her subjects. It had really been far too long since she'd walked among the low. She'd forgotten how good it felt to see her subjects stumble in surprise and shock at her presence. It had been about five months since she'd visited Pluto, true, but almost five years since she'd last visited Pluto's school and now the headmistresses Minios Einkota rushed about to ensure her Queen's comfort.

The queen took a dainty sip of her tea and frowned mentally. Dish water. Or at least it might as well have been when put along side the tea she normally partook of from the royal gardens, but Einkota-chan had done the best she could with what she had availible, so she fixed a smile regardless. "Thank you, for recieving me so warmly, Headmistress. I hope I have not unduely inconvenienced you?"

"O-Of course not, your Highness!" Einokota bowed for perhaps the fifth time since her arrival. "In fact, we would be most pleased to show you around to the newest wing built just last year!"

"Another time, perhaps," Serenity declined politely. "Unfortunately, my business with the childern will consume more time than I can afford at the moment.... Much as I would love a tour of your newest facilities."

"Of course, Serenity-sama," She inclined her head differentially. "They should be along any moment... Though if I may inquire...?"

"Why I would take an interest in the pair?" The Queen smiled politey, divining the woman's question easily enough. The headmistress nodded, radiating curiosity for which the Silver haired monarch could hardly fault her. Her Queen had just cross the solar system to visit two of her students, students that just happened to be a sisters. If the head mistress was thorough in her curiosity, she would also know their unique linage which would in turn create more questions for her; Questions she would indulge after a fashion. Serenity smiled kindly with that in mind as she framed her response. "I am delighted to see your interest in the welfare of those charged to you... Suffice to say that while I cannot go into all of the details, it concerns their house patron."

"Princess Pluto..." The head mistress stated reverently, as the woman wasn't_ just _the girl's patron, but that of the entire planet. Serenity nodded simply.

"Let us just say it is a family affair."

"I understand completely," Einkota nodded eagerly in the face of the perfectly reasonable explanation. "I think--"

_Chirp!_

"Vice Principle Oikya indicates the Aukomino childern have a arrived." A polite digital voice advised and the woman nodded with the anonymous female voice.

"Send them in."

The door dematerialized, allowing two slightly hesitant girls to step through at the vice principle's urging. Their appearance came as little surprise to the Queen, who had seen her guardian's briefing well before hand. The lighter redheaded girl was Raya Aukomino; outgoing, creative, and a social butterfly. Her sister with the green hair more in keeping with Pluto's genetic linage was Rena who's personality erred closer to that of her own Mercury, but with an incessant need for hands on experimentation. Serenity almost laughed when she read that explosions were not uncommon around the girl. Both girls stepped into the office tentatively staring first at their school head, then herself. After a moment of silent study, the first words out of the younger sister's mouth nearly shocked her.

"Mm, Hiya!" Queen Serenity blinked at the strawberry blonde's guileless greeting, immediately followed by her sister grinding her knuckles to her head, forcing her down.

"Show some respect, moron!" The green haired girl growled before bowing herself. "Eh, heheh, Sorry about that your highness! My _sister_ is a brainless--"

"Brainless?!" Raya's head snapped up. "You're one to talk--!"

"GIRLS!" Head Mistress Oikya snapped, watching the scene incredulously. "You are in the presence of the White Queen herself! You will show the utmost respect in her presence!"

The head mistress turned to her monarch with a gibbering apology, only to watch the queen giggle slightly, waving it away. "Do not hinder the children, for they amuse me greatly." Serenities blue eyes glittered as she turned on the pair with a maternal counernance. "I trust you both have been keeping up with your studies?"

"They've been doing quite--" Oikya's voice withered and died as the Queen turned back to her, her face an emotionless void. The Headmistress immediately stammered an apology for the interruption, grateful once her monarch's smile returned to the girls.

"Um, pretty good I guess." Ranma shrugged, to which Ryoga shot her an irritated look.

"She means great! Fantastic!" The formerly lost boy effused, then quickly amended the statement. "I mean, _your highness._"

"Delightful, simply delightful," The woman smiled openly now. "My daughter will so enjoy meeting you, but that is for another time. Would you care to guess why I am here to meet you in person today?" Both girls emoted cluelessness even though both were secretly hoping her explanation would lead to a way home. Whether the queen had actually expected an answer or not was a moot point as she continued regardless. "Your house patron and my oldest, dearest friend is considering stepping down from her post as the Guardian, nor can I blame her. Do you realize she has held the position since_ before _the_ First_ Fall?"

_The First Fall, The First..._ Both girls keyed in on the emphasis nor did they miss the headmistress sharp intake of breath; Ranma's shared consciousness pulling up the relevant information first. _The Fall of the Old Silver Millenium; the first Age of Peace ruled by Queen Serenity the first, Serenity the Second's mother. A time of peace and prosperity rivaled only by her daughter's New Silver Millenium--_ _Shit, that was a long-ass time ago. _The strawberry blond cut off the unintentional mental rambling and answered for them both.

"Um, can't say that she did?"

_Perfect,_ Serenity thought, mentally congratulating Mercury on her choices. Two children with better than fifty percent of Pluto's linage, little contact with the woman and not even two decades old! An entire _lifetime_ to be shaped and molded into the perfect guardians...

"Suffice to say, her post will require a new guardian, and I can think of no better person to entrust that role to her than that of her family," She explained patiently. "After some consideration, We feel that both of you may very well be the ideal candidates for that position."

Within her, some part of Raya thrilled, suddenly exhilarated by the proclamation that Ranma herself knew nothing about. Sure it was probably an honor and all that, but--

"But, um, what does a Guardian of Pluto _do_?" Ryoga asked the question that had been on the very tip of her own tongue and Ranma waited for the inevitable answer. The Queen set her tea aside, rising to her full height as if to emphasis her next words. She looked down on the two teens.

"Why, she is the Guardian of Time itself."

Suddenly the sister's vision wavered and blinding white light swept across them, washing away their consciousness even as they were left wondering just what the hell a guardian of time was.

* * *

Ranma's eyes's blinked open in the middle of darkness. _What...? What had? _

Sound filtered into his ears and he realized quickly that it was _snoring._ Rena didn't snore. _Well, she did,_ Ranma amended mentally, but it was this pathetically cute burbling sound. This snoring was heavier. Much heavier. Like... He pushed his blanket off himself, sitting up on his futon and spoke to the air.

"Lights."

Ranma's own voice damn near startled the hell out of him when it came out, deep and clearly masculine. His hands padded against his chest and even without the unresponsive illumination, he _knew_. Somehow, _he_ was _home!_ But... why? How? They hadn't even talked to the creepy silver haired woman about the past, yet here he was. Moonlight shimmered in through the window and the house didn't look the slightest bit different from his month old recollections.

Feeling his chest again, joy crossed Ranma's features. Male. _I'm a guy again! _He thought, pumping his fist into the air for emphasis.

The realization immediately gave birth to a well spring of terror. Terror that wasn't his own and the martial artist stared into the dark, shocked. "Raya?! What the hell are you still doing here!"

The snoring abated slightly and Ranma's eyes fell onto his father. The terror turned to complete shock. _Th-that's a panda! P-pandas are extinct! _

It took a moment of startled realization to perceive the thought didn't originate from his side of their consciousness. _Ditz. Pandas aren't extinct. And what are you still doing inside my head anyway?_

Nor was that the only question, and there were very few answers to go around. _But it does seem to fall in under the header of time travel? _Ranma rationalized shakily. _Dammit, wish Rena-chan was here. She's so much better at this than..._

He sighed a depleted groan and sat back down on the futon, ignoring the horror flooding from the dormant girl inside him. _Ryoga. He's Ryoga_. Abruptly Raya gushed again and Ranma shook himself, turning his thoughts to home, and how he'd come here.

_If I'm here, then Ryoga is probably back out there too... Cartin' Rena along like me?_ He wondered worriedly and the burbling of panic within lessened with the thought. His eyes swept across the darkened room until they fell upon an the clocks LED read out._ 4:27. Early morning. Hmm. Wake the old man up? _

He tore his eyes away from the display across the room, amazed how they wanted to persist in the study of the illuminated numbers and how they were... _Archaic?_ Ranma shook his head, knowing there was no way he would be getting to sleep. It was all too much... Way too much and his brain was turning over facts and observations at a frantic pace. Half of them were his... The other half he didn't want to think about and diverted them to the side. One, however, featured quite prominiently at the forefront.

How much time had passed?

_Oh damn... Akane's going to be sooo pissed at me!_ Ranma thought dismally. Slowly, he rose out of bed, idly fixing the blankets over the small futon into an organized array._ Akane's gonna be pissed, no doubt on that. And Pop... wait... he's just sleeping here? I figured he'd be out looking for me._

He paused on those thoughts, idly realizing what his hands had been doing with his mind preoccupied and he flung the blankets across the futon haphazardly as he always would have done. "Dammit Raya, cut it out!"

Ranma stood, after fussing with the blankets a bit to make certain they looked properly ruffled, and dressed walking down to take an early bath.

Stepping into the dressing room, he glanced at himself in the mirror, and jerked in sudden horror, again, not his own.

_Come on, Raya. I've told you I'm a guy before._ He thought back at his mind's hitchhiker, in a slight bit of anger.

Suddenly the door behind him opened and Kasumi stood there, dressed in her usual apron and dress, that ever present smile adorning her face. To Ranma's relief, Raya seemed to relax at her precense in the same way pretty much everyone did. Kasumi could calm demons...

"Oh! You're up very early today Ranma-kun! Do you have somewhere to be...?" The girl asked in her demure fashion.

Ranma blinked. It was the first time the girl had seen him in a month and _that_ was what she had to say? Strange... Ranma decided going along was definitely the best way to go though. "Uh, naw. Just couldn't sleep." he replied casually. "Figured I'd get a head start today."

"Oh! Well that's always good Ranma-kun! I suppose you'll won't mind running the bathwater then?" She replied.

Ranma grinned and gave her the smile he usually did. "No problem, Kasumi."

The girl gave a nod, and turned back, closing the door to the changing room behind her, but before she closed it completely, she spoke back, "Breakfast will be ready in about an hour or two. You are awake very early Ranma. I hope nothing is wrong."

The door clicked shut audibly.

Ranma gave a sigh of relief. Was it possible? Could it be that no time had actually passed since he'd woken up in that other world?

He didn't know. And as with most things he didn't know, there were a series of options. Ignore it and wait for the shit to hit the fan, or ask one of the old geezers. And that didn't sound particularly appealing. _"Cologne? I just lived an entire month in someone else's body. You know anything about that?"_ Hah! The old crone would probably wack him over the head even if she _did_ believe him. And Happosai...? No. Best to just wait it out.

A small, grim part of himself laughed wondering what sort of reaction Raya would have to Happosai. _That_ would shake up her idyllic little life! Of course, it probably already _was_ quite thoroughly shaken to its core. Surprisingly, or perhaps not so, the primary emotion coming from Raya was not fear. No, now it was utter confusion. The girl was completely confounded by _everything. _Ranma noticed a lightswitch and perplexion flooded through her. The girl obviously deigned the reasons for the sink and the furoh, but was befuddled by the dials that rested by the faucet, trying to discern their purpose.

For that matter, the _doors_ confused her! And Ranma could guess why on that one. It was likely the girl had never actually seen a doorknob in her entire life.

And at that thought, indignancy flooded through him.

It seemed they could communicate after a fashion. Still, admist all her confusion, an emotion not unlike fear festered. Trepidation, and perhaps anxiety. Maybe even a little bit of guilt for some reason, the girl now understanding what it had been like for Ranma to be thrown out of his own world. His own time.

_Hey, don't worry so much_. Ranma thought in what he hoped was a comforting way. _We'll get you back home. And then you can be the guardian of time or whatever. _

Light seemed to breeze through him at that thought and, with Raya at least a bit satisfied, he moved about to run the bath water. He wasn't sure, but he had the feeling it was going to be a _long_ day.

* * *

Ryoga was tired. Well, no, that wasn't entirely true. _Rena_ was tired. Or at least she thought she was. His body could go on for ages but apparently the girl didn't seem to understand that. He, on the other hand, was unbelievably irritated.

He'd grown used to being able to find his way. He'd grown to love the feeling. To adore the ideal of wanting to go somewhere, walking there, and then _being_ there. Now... now it was gone. And he _did_ miss it. But as always, he missed Akane more. And there was no way he was anywhere but home. He knew this forest! It was... somewhere north of Nagoya wasn't it...?

Rena seemed to be anxious at whatever was going on. Terrified at being stuck in some primitive horror land, when the girl didn't even know what a forest _was_ beyond the theoretical belief that uncontrolled plant life once _existed. _

Bah. The girl was a complete coward! But Ryoga supposed he could feel some sympathy for her. The trans _still scared_ the hell out of him, and she laughed at him in his mind for it. Still, he decided that even if she did annoy the hell out of him, and for some reason make him think he was smarter than he actually was at times, she was still company. And... that was better than being alone all of the time.

_'I miss Raya.' _

Ryoga tripped, and his luckily hard face smashed into a rock.

"No..." He murmured aloud as he wobbled back up to his knees. "No way in hell...."

Shaking his head he rolled over and leaned himself against a tree, holding a hand to his aching face. He knew it wouldn't hurt as much if Rena didn't keep _thinking_ she wasn't capable of what he was doing. Walking for miles. Endless miles it seemed. The sun was already a few miles past the horizon. _So ten o'clock. _He thought, almost certain it was his thought, and not Rena's. For once.

_Hah! I know something you don't! _He laughed in his mind.

A wave of irritation blew through him, and he felt... twisted by it. It was strange. His first few days... hell his first few _weeks_ in Rena's body were horrible. He kept feeling like he was doing something inextricably _wrong_ for being in the girl's body. Peeping. Oogling. Basically being an all around pervert. But every time he had taken of his clothes to bathe, shielding his eyes from the parts of the female anatomy that most assuredly didn't belong to him, at least these days, a dim feeling of laughter echoed in his mind. And... slowly, he'd become okay with it. Rena just never seemed angered by it. Afraid yes, but it was as if she knew he wasn't there by choice and accepted it. That and the unending sense of _fascination _that roiled in him every time he thought of it. Two souls, in one body! It was impossible. And yet...

_Perhaps the Discondrious Matter in my body whenever I die, made a sort of connection between me and some item of Rena's in the future. And somehow, maybe through one of those insto-educators or something, I got shoved first class into Rena's head, via flux amnission!_

Ryoga paused for a moment...

"No, that couldn't have been me. Come on! I don't even know what half of that meant!" Ryoga shouted, aloud. "Stop with the sciency crap!"

A frown, Ryoga would have called it. Like disappointment. Oh well. He wasn't smart, and he knew it. Hell the instantaneous learning he'd received from classes all the last month were still confusing to him because he had no base to understand most of the things Rena had already learned at Pluto's prestigious University. But still, he gave in to the somewhat pouty feeling he felt and obliged her. "Besides, its way more likely that it has something to do with that "Guardian of Time" thing. After all, we _are_ time traveling. Kinda..."

Rena grew introspective at that. He could always tell when she was sort of... closing away from him to go thinking. But it did seem to satisfy her.

He shook himself vigorously and stood, hefting his pack, and unbelievably glad for the strength that he'd left behind for so long. It felt _wonderful_ to be able to lift the thing, and his umbrella. Being Rena for a month had shown him just how hard normal people must have it. _Being weak sucks. _That was the simple thought that it boiled down to in the end.

Rena, he thought he was starting to understand most of the girl's emotions by now, gave a small hint of laughter along with an incredulous skim as if she still couldn't comprehend the strength Ryoga had, but the emotions were dim, as if she were only barely paying him attention.

A common thing. Rena was often off in her own world, dreaming about complex formulas and abstracts that would jump into his head at the _most_ inopportune moments. _Raya_ made no end of fun of her for her constant daydreaming. And not just Ranma. Memories of Raya's teasing went back eons, but for all the memories from the other girl that Ryoga had gained, barely a one existed that the strawberry blond was not a part of.

_I don't miss that arrogant bastard Ranma. _He hissed in his mind as he stood and began walking again. _Now how do I find him so I can _finally _bash his ungrateful face in! Talking like that to the Queen of the Galaxy! The Moron!_

Despite the heavy words he thought, they simply didn't carry the heat that they once had.

A few more hours Ryoga walked through the tangled brush of dense forest, and by this time, Rena truly was angry.

_Come on. When you're angry it just makes me angry, _Ryoga thought in what he hoped was a consoling type of manner. _Besides I always find where I'm going eventually!_

_I...d...i...o...t...!_

Ryoga started. Had she just...? Had Rena just _spoken_? Then he caught the word itself. _Hey!_

Without warning he stumbled, Idly catching himself before tripping again. He was too used to walking in a girl's body. It'd take a bit to get himself used to being in his rightful form again. But being P-chan was much worse so...

Oh no...

Standing, he suddenly realized that he was no longer in a dense forest surrounded by foliage and the wildlife of foreign animals and bugs. Instead he was in the middle of a street. Trees were strangely absent, and building stood tall and so joyously _normal_, that Ryoga almost forgot the sudden revelation that his curse was back. The month he'd gone without it had been utter heaven...

Now he was home again, and he just knew that the first second he let his guard down he would be--!

The sound of a car speeding by was no warning as a puddle seemed to erupt on the streets beneath the vehicles tires, covering him in _'wet.' _Moments were all he had before he felt the change rush through him, a strange tingling, leaving him cursing in pigish. Growling as best he could and scrambling out of the tent that was his clothes he hissed his disapproval at the world.

He was home.

And frankly... Home sucked.

But at least he knew Akane was here. That would be enough... for now.

* * *

**Author's Notes -**

Bwahahahahah! After over two years on haitus The Anarchists is back!

... Okay... so not really. This is the 10,000 words we've had on file for almost all of those two years. So we figured what the hell, might as well let people read. Shorter chapter, yes, but at the same time, perhaps your reviews will give us a bit of inspiration ne? Ozz! Stop playing warcraft! I know you are!

On my end, new chapter of Her War will be coming out sometime this or next week i'm pretty sure. As for Ozz, well. He's always cookin' up something new. No spoilers now. ^_^ As always, lend us a review! With any luck it will return our inspiration for this fic. Which would be good, because in my mind, this is still one of the most epic ideas I've ever had.

Don't expect anything too soon, but of course, the more rich and fulfilling your reviews are, the more i'm sure we'll want to write. So...

Till Next!

MB


	4. III

_Disclaimer:__ We, in no way shape or form, own Ranma ½ or Sailor Moon._

**The Anarchists**

A_ Ranma ½ _Fanfiction by

_Materia-Blade _and_ Ozzallos_

**- - - - - III - - - - -**

_AHHH! What is it!_

It took a supreme amount of effort not to jerk his head up in shock that wasn't his own and scramble around like an idiot just to find out what 'it' was, and still more effort went into not letting the reaction blossom across his face for the entire world to see. The sad thing was that it wasn't even his reaction. Sure, the lady they had passed sweeping up the sidewalk was old, but she wasn't Cologne-old and certainly not worthy of the heart stopping panic that had flooded his psyche from a place that he apparently no longer had sole and complete ownership of.

_Most people would call that crazy_, Ranma grumbled, but tried to force feed the foreign presence residing in his mind calm while ensuring the part time fiancée walking next to him hadn't noticed anything unusual. _Not that it'd be the first time_, Ranma mentally shook his head. Over the past month, he'd grown used to experiencing bursts of emotion that weren't his own, and likewise grown quite good at schooling his features. He had also discovered ways to placate Raya within him; which was by no means easy._ He_ was home._ She_ was vastly out of place and afraid ._..Of everything_, Ranma sighed, feeling equal parts sympathy and irritation for the girl somehow locked up in his subconscious. The outbursts were really starting drive him insane, but it was hard to fault his passenger since the past month had been damn near the same for him, just the other way around. Instead of him being thrown into a super futuristic world, Raya was now living her equivalent of the Stone Age.

_It's just some old granny,_ Ranma thought, less to himself and more at the nebulous presence of Raya floating somewhere in the back of his head. _Not like they got nanites to keep us all young back here, y'know? Hell, just wait till ya see the Old Ghoul..._

_...Or worse, the old perv, _He thought more to himself, and grimaced when he realized that there was little difference.

The nagging anxiety quieted somewhat with the reassurance, even though he suspected neither one of them actually heard words from the other. He certainly didn't. All he got was stabs of emotion that could be interpreted, almost as if they were his very own and now confusion was running rampant through him as she seemed to question reality as he knew it.

_No Nanites? Really?_Disbelief without words all but radiated from Raya on the subject, but it quickly trailed off. The girl was surprisingly quick to adapt, despite being constantly surprised at almost everything; be it terror or incredulity. It was a trait he would have approved of if it wasn't all happening in his own damn head.

_Tomboy's gonna think I'm nuts,_ Ranma thought to himself, stealing a glance at Akane walking along next to him on the ground below as he took to the fence, somehow managing to avoid a certain old lady and her ladle in the process. Somehow he was certain Raya would just be thrilled with his female aspect and he _really_wasn't looking forward to that particular revelation when it came to her attention. The martial artist snuck another quick look down to Akane, noting the stony look on her face.

_She's pissed,_ he sighed. What she was pissed about was a complete mystery, however, and it had taken some serious contemplation to realize the crucial fact that for Akane, it had been a fairly recent occurrence... whatever 'it' was. And in that time, he had been blasted into the future to live in some girl's body. _For a month!_ Ranma grumped. _How the heck am I supposed to remember something like that?_!

Even worse, he had gotten the impression that 'it' had been particularly rough on her. When he had first sighted her early that morning, her hair had been an utter mess and her eyes bloodshot with the lack of a bath and the impressions of a bad night's sleep; to the point where he didn't even want to hit the bath on the off chance that the activity would incite her further. He wanted to tell her..._ Dammit, I don't even know what to tell her,_ Ranma frowned to himself, snorting sarcastically. _Hey 'Kane, was gone to the future in some chick's body. Sorry about whatever it was, really missed ya!_

He continued to watch the girl warily until something distracted him; a familiar emotion creeping up his spine. At times that emotion was associated with any number of the fiancées in his life- tempered by the promise of imminent violence -but most recently that same emotion had been directed at one specific individual.

Naota.

_Oh hell no!_ He thought hatefully back into the corner of consciousness subletted by his passenger. _Go lust over some other girl Raya! Besides, why would you like that violent tomboy!_

Unfortunately, Ranma already knew the answer. Love and affection were emotions that he had unwittingly been subject to during his stay on Pluto and in the great keep known as Orcus University. They were encouraged, in fact; all but thrown around willy nilly to one another and subjecting the martial artist to any number of awkward situations in the process. _Lust_however...? That was a strange one, and Ranma tried to beat Raya's surprising response to his fiancée back with a mental stick while trying to understand why.

_Naota._

The name was like a sucking void in the girl's emotion and Ranma suddenly knew. As sappy as it sounded, Raya was recovering from a long time love. _She_ was _looking_ for a rebound, whether the girl was riding shotgun in her own body or not. _This is _not _happening_, Ranma grumbled, wondering just when the weirdness would end and unsure of which was more creepy: the girl enjoying looking at boys using _his_ eyes or a girl scoping out another girl-_ Akane_of all people. Even worse, it was getting hard to really tell which of them it was coming from.

The thought caused a wave of laughter from Raya that sought to be indulged. As annoying as it was, that was just the way of it and the way it had been ever since he woke up yesterday. Every thought he made caused another emotion to breeze through him, a constant state of empathic conversation.

"What?" Ranma blinked with the unexpected question, suddenly focusing back out into the world beyond to find one supremely irritated Akane Tendo staring back at him with a perturbed expression. The youngest Tendo shook her head before Ranma's already divided thought process could formulate a response. "And stop staring at me, pervert."

_She's cute._

"Why would I want to stare at you, kawaii-kune?" Ranma snorted, prompting the Tendo to loose a 'hmmf!' and turn back down her direction of travel while giving him the opportunity divert Raya from her newest fixation.

_Love...? Do you...?_

Ranma stumbled and fell off the fence as the emotion bubbled curiously, sending him face first into the sidewalk for once; not the canal to his right. Akane stopped short, staring at the martial artist that had suddenly been deposited at her feet before he picked himself back up, peeling away from the pavement and continuing his trek with her as if the fall had never happened. The fiancée couldn't help but to stare for the first few steps before simply shaking her head, following him with only one word on her mind. "Idiot."

Ranma missed the insult entirely, instead focusing on the mental conflict that continued to occupy his thought process. _Pah. Love. Of course that's what you'd ask about isn't it? _Ranma shot at the girl in his mind. _It's all you _ever _think about in that crazy future world of yours, huh?_

Indignation flowed like a river from Raya, then unapologetic confirmation. Ranma sighed, realizing a lost cause when he saw one, but allowed the girl a notch of respect nonetheless. She may have been a love and boy obsessed schoolgirl, but at least she wasn't making excuses for it. In the end, it wasn't really any different concerning him and the arts, so who was he to bust her chops on it? _'Cept for the fact that her obsession is in_ my_ body,_ He grumbled, but found it hard to hold on to even that in light of his own trespasses in _Raya's_own body. He knew for damn sure she hadn't been happy about the fighting, and that fact alone all but surrendered any moral superiority he felt like holding on to.

Akane's wondering gaze had apparently moved on during the introspection; seemingly having dismissed the fall as a fluke and affording Ranma a slight loosening of the mental tension pervading his thought process. The uncomfortable silence, however, remained and both endured it for another five minutes before stepping through the gates of that last bastion of educational hope known as Furinkan High.

_Feh, whatever_, Ranma snorted, scanning the campus for the first time in a month. It was a school like any other, save the fact that his last month had been spent in the most hyper advanced educational facility known to man. _Known to man_, the martial artist scoffed at his own joke. _Heck, the place hasn't even been built yet if Rena is right._The mental slip went completely unnoticed as Ranma continued to absorb the details, noting that like everything else, nothing had changed. Same clock. Same students. Same-

"Ah, fair Akane Tendo, you're arrival marks the dawn of a new day in my-!"

-Same idiots.

"Save it, Kuno," The aforementioned girl interrupted Ranma's own missive and the upperclassman's rhetoric with a glare shades hotter than the one she had focused on Ranma earlier. "I don't have time for _boys_today."

_Yep, definitely still pissed, _Ranma sighed, thankfully he wasn't the target of that particular... His attention was unwittingly pulled from his fiancée to the kendoist as a syrupy wave flowed from Raya into his consciousness

_KAWAII!_

Ranma stopped short as he processed the emotion with all the same reactions as a deer staring down an approaching car. Hell, a deer staring down a _crashing plane_. A plane would have left more of the deer intact after it was all said and done; it certainly would have kept more coherency than what Ranma was left with as Raya twittered happily within his conscious perception.

_You did _NOT_ just think that, _Ranma balked at his mental shadow as his thought process finally rebooted, cheek twitching while Kuno continued to ply his charm to the grumpy Tendo. _You can't be considering Kuno... But he's...! That's...!_

"Doth protest, but I know the sweet bosom of my Fierce Tigress swells with affection for my magnificence..." His speech took a flowery turn and Raya gushed all but drowning Ranma romantic syrup.

"Gggugghh..." Came Ranma's witty retort as his hands clutched his throat and he began to gag on disgust alone.

Akane turned with the gagging sound, ignoring the upperclassman for a moment to favor her choking, nearly bug-eyed fiancé with a stare. Even Kuno arched a skeptical eyebrow for a moment until the youngest Tendo let an exasperated sigh, and took the few steps back to him to smack him on the back. The impact was far harder than necessary and Ranma, already rendered nearly non sensical by the tide of gushing emotion, pitched face first into the sidewalk for the second time in one day. _Moron,_ Akane examined her handwork and strode past both boys with an exaggerated 'hmmph'. That would teach him not to keep making fun of last night's meal._ And choking noises, no less!_

Tatewake Kuno watched the exchange with thoughtful confusion before turning away to his would be consort to favor the stricken martial artist with a malevolent smile. "Indeed, why need I smite thee when the angel's hand does so in my stead?"

"Shuddup, Kuno," Ranma mumbled, peeling his face from the ground to glare at the back of the upperclassman as he gave chase to the Tendo sister.

* * *

Ryoga was pissed. Honestly that shouldn't have been so surprising, because he often felt very high levels of anger. On a daily basis, in fact. Still, it _was_surprising, because of one tiny little fact. Ryoga was angry; Ranma was not there.

The two things had never really occurred one without the other before. When Ranma was there, Ryoga was angry. When Ryoga was angry, Ranma was there. It was simply a constant despite how much he'd had to get over that in the past month. Living with the girl- sleeping in the same_ room_ with her -had turned out to be every _bit_ the punishment it had been intended by the woman simply known as 'momma,' as Ryoga had come so close to tearing his own hair out with frustration with the red-head's sleeping habits. Every damn morning the girl had woken up draped over her like a human blanket. It was _infuriating! _She had kissed the sheets of her own bed the night their mother had _finally_let them sleep in separate rooms again.

And that was only a single example of the times 'Raya' had brought her to rage. Though, admittedly the night Raya had finally slept apart from her had been rather cold... _and almost every night since, _a traitorous part of his intellect inserted.

Still, the point stood! The torture that their two weeks spent living together truly _was,_ served to point out that when Ranma wasn't around, Ryoga was generally a very easy going and happy person. Only _Ranma_ caused him to rage. Only _Ranma_, idiot that he was, had the capacity to squash any measure of happiness Ryoga found.

Ever since returning to his original form, however, he'd discovered there was someone else with Ranma's own potential to evoke his utter fury. And she happened to be living right inside his head.

Rena was a nuisance that was proving impossible to handle. The girl was utterly and completely fascinated with _everything! _Every walnut crushed under his foot, every building passed, every sign. She had to know it all! What were they? What did they do? Why were there so many? How did they work?

Sure, Raya had been annoying whenever she had suddenly pounced Ryoga into a conversation about boys once or twice, clearly just trying to embarrass her. Or blaming her for that one time she'd broken her Viopane. Rena just had this itch to... to _engineer_, and the futuristic television embedded in the south wall of her room just happened to be the first victim after he gave into those urges, especially after she had gotten her hands on the Nutroglien and Amoxicillin. Ryoga paused with the recollection.

_I still don't even know what Nutroglien and Amoxicillin are!_

After that day, however, he sure as hell knew their effects regardless of their exact chemical makeup, and suffice to say, the Viopane had been a total loss.

_Mama had been soo mad that day... _Ryoga shook his head as he continued down his path of travel. Rena was insatiable! The girl was on autopilot, prompting him with her every emotion to inform her of the use of each and every thing he saw, thus leading to the sense of complete urgency permeating him.

_Tell me this! Tell me! Now!_ As if the girl were actually screaming in his head, making him feel rushed in a way he'd never really felt before. And he did _not_like it.

The sad part about the whole mess was that while Ryoga wanted to be angry with his mental roommate, he couldn't find it in his heart to really do so. Her fascination was almost unbearable, true, but fascination wasn't the _only_ foreign emotion that Ryoga felt. He could tell with a goodly measure of pity- and worse, guilt -that the girl in his mind was _terrified._

So she questioned as a defense mechanism, trying to hide the terror that Ryoga could readily feel every time something unusual crossed his path, and the hairs rose on the back of his neck. And, being the generally easy-going eternally lost boy that he was, Ryoga did his best to answer, hoping to assuage both the girl's fears and his own lingering guilt.

Luckily, that guilt led him to a perfect reason to be angry at Ranma. After all, if not for _Ranma_, Rena wouldn't be stuck in his head and terrified out of her wits...

_...Right?_

Something in his gut was telling him that whatever had caused this melding of consciousness, crossing through time itself, probably wasn't Ranma's fault after all. Insane as _that_thought was.

Turning his thoughts back to the problem at hand, Ryoga focused, once again, on getting Rena to calm down, while trying to still the irritation within him. At least communicating with the science nerd was getting easier. The girl's emotions were becoming strangely simpler to read. He couldn't _hear_ anything, and he was almost certain Rena had never spoken beyond calling him an idiot when they had first arrived back in his time, but he could... _sense_what she wanted.

Sort of.

_"...?" "...?"_

_Yeah, _Ryoga thought pointedly as he looked around. _That question felt like a 'where.'_

_"...!"_

_Or not, _Ryoga groused as the girl raged in his mind. Sadly, he bottled his sympathy and gave it to her as he continued walking, hand on his umbrella on the off chance that water should rise up to strike him down. Calming himself, letting himself meld with his ki and tune out the sounds of the outside world, he found a center of peace that he hoped would give him a more clear understanding of the words Rena was silently screaming in his head.

Silence reigned and only the crisp sounds of his own footsteps reached his ears.

"When?" He asked aloud.

A well of satisfaction washed over him confirming his guess as the correct one.

"It's probably July or August... 1987." He answered immediately and received confusion for his efforts. A font of knowledge seemed to strike him. One of those historical instant learning switches that had been shoved into Rena's head, the memories filtering over into his own mind.

_The Nineteen-hundreds were a time when Pluto had become a nexus for the galactic trade federation. Soico, an outerworld planet in that era, about two Solar Systems away from the Sun, had joined Crystal Tokyo during that time. Technology had been on the rise and nanites had become mainstream by then, instead of a tool reserved only for the wealthy..._

...In short, the nineteen hundreds from Rena's history classes were... nothing like _this_. But Ryoga noticed the error. The 1980s "After Fall" was not the same as the 1980s "After Death." The emotion _that_ created was still more confusion. As if to say, "_What was After Death? After 'whose' death?"_

_I think our time was before the fall. Before Serenity was even queen, _Ryoga returned, only guessing himself.

"What!" He burst, his own thought sparking the shocked reaction, temporarily snatching his voice from him. A shiver crawled through the hairs of his arms as he imagined the implications and excitement bubbled in his head._ Before the queen! _No one knew _anything_about before the Queen! Hell, information on the time before The Second Fall was considered priceless...! Well, in its historical value anyway. Not in usefulness.

That caused a strange feeling as he felt himself look up to the blue of the sky above, anxious for the night time to come. If he could see the stars he could figure out where they were! If he could see them, he could even triangulate... _when_. If... he really was in the past...

Suddenly he shook himself. _Of course I'm in the past! This is _home!_**I**__ don't need to figure out what year it is!_

Determination heckled him like dogs biting the heels of their owner. No question as to what that meant. _Rena_ WOULD be looking at the stars and she _would_find out where the hell she was. For herself.

Ryoga sighed, biting down a growl. Yes. It was time for a subject change. Unbidden, yet welcome thoughts came to his mind as soon as he turned away from the prickly barb that was Rena's current emotive mindset. "I... wonder if Akane has missed me this past month?"

* * *

The middle of lunch and Ranma was already having a bad day. Water had been seeking her almost nonstop, and the cursed liquid had not failed in finding her. Sighing, she huffed, blowing a strand or two of red hair out of her eyes, and turning up to face the teacher. Some faceless boring man who kept droning on about the years between the first and second world wars. It was incredibly dull.

_Click... Click... Click..._

Ranma's eyes trained intensely on the clock, now only minutes from granting her the freedom of lunch and the opportunity to return to her male form! Which... due to Raya inside her, she found herself irritatingly unenthusiastic about. A month spent as a girl in the future had done a bit more to her disposition than she had thought, it seemed. And once Raya discovered the curse, Ranma found that the girl within him was actively pushing him _towards _cold water...

...When he was in male form at least. An accidental extra step here. A tip of the buckets there. It was absolutely amazing how much influence her mental passenger had when she was so determined, and had Ranma not already known his body as only a martial artist could, might have mistaken it for a bout of stumbling. Ranma glared inwardly toward that clouded portion of her conscious. There was _no way _she was _that_clumsy.

Whatever Akane had been angry about had been forgotten, at least. Even ten minutes after class had begun, Ranma could still hear the girl holding back laughter. Stupid tomboy probably thought Ranma had received just desserts or something equally stupid. Three times in one morning Ranma had changed back to male form, and three times he had been splashed with cold water hardly a moment later.

"Dammit Raya." Ranma murmured spitefully. Inwardly she felt the girl preen.

And Akane had the nerve to just sit there, _laughing_at her! Didn't she realize how god-awfully uncomfortable this was?

Well... Yes. She probably did. Uncute tomboy.

_This is really dull. _She thought as she shifted her eyes between the clock and the teacher, to avoid drawing his ire. Ranma tried to ignore the squishy feeling of her clothes, and the drips of water sliding down behind her ears from still wet hair.

_Bored, bored, bored, BORED! _The cursed girl thought ravenously, and found that her opinion was shared. Why was this stupid teacher spending so much time 'talking?' Where were the arm chairs and the instant learning? This... this just seemed... _primitive._ So very slow. People would have to spend their entire _lives_ just to grasp the most _basic _concepts of math at this rate!

For once, Ranma and Raya were in_ complete _agreement.

By the end of the month she had spent in the future, Ranma had progressed from trigonometry to calculus and beyond. She grasped it. She literally understood its concepts, and better yet, realized now how they could apply to her martial arts. Not that it would ever be useful mid fight, but it was interesting to mark trajectories. Realize that every flip, leg sweep, and punch had a mathematical compliment that could accurately describe it. Or with trigonometry, one could measure distance by guessing the angle of shadows and comparing. The slightest edge of a smile crept through the dull atmosphere. It was..._ enjoyable._

Math hadn't been all she'd learned either. Many other subjects that she'd never known or thought she would care to enjoy, she'd found that learning could be fun... as long as it was instantaneous. Learning like this seemed an _utter_waste of time. So, bored out of her mind, yet unable to sleep as she normally might have, what with being still partially soaked, Ranma flipped over the paper in front of her and began to doodle.

Chickens scratches of people executing martial arts techniques that were flawed only by Ranma's awful penmanship were produced by her bored fingers. Horrid sketches, every one in her opinion. Sighing, she turned the page and her attention back to her teacher. Notes. Bah. What help was writing _notes?_But everyone else seemed to think it was a good idea.

She did_ not_. And now that she'd seen how good school could actually be, she would not be forced to write down everything this old man told her. _Outdated primitive little..._

"Why doesn't someone answer this question? Any volunteers?" The teacher asked in his usual polite voice. Ranma glanced to the hard chalkboard, caked with years upon years of fingerprints and eraser swipes, and found a surprisingly simple problem of elementary Calculus. The derivative of a quadratic equation.

Without warning, Ranma was suppressing a knee-jerk reaction that was not her own, to raise her hand and answer the question. It took considerable willpower to get the girl within to calm down and put her mental hand down, but sooner or later she did, and someone Ranma didn't know was chosen to answer the question.

_"Easy shit..." _Ranma decided, with an almost depressed thought. Slowly, idly, she let her mind wander, alongside her hand as it found a new pad of paper to begin more sketches to disguise her lack of note-taking.

Class ended as it always did with the toll of a bell and Ranma practically jumped for glee. She packed up her books and the sketch papers she'd been pretending to take notes on and packed them into her bookbag, thankful for the escape from the day's monotony. As she bounded out of the classroom she failed to notice one of the papers she'd been drawing slip out of her hand and right onto the floor.

Akane did though.

She bent over to pick up the page.

Her eyes widened.

* * *

Princess Pluto, the Mistress of Time itself, stared intently at her opponent. Frustration tinged the edges of her physique. Sweat trailed down her brow, and her eyes were squinted in almost abject rage at the enemy before her.

"I _will _defeat you."

Her enemy smiled back; a wretched smile that only made her smoldering grow hotter still.

"I swear it by time itself. I shall defeat you." She growled, repeating her earlier words with even _more_finality if that were possible. But her enemy remained unfazed. In fact, the smile on her opponent's face seemed to actively widen at her taunts! That wasn't how it was supposed to go. How was it that she, the Mistress of Time itself, couldn't strike fear into her singular adversary when the inners were able to strike those stupid poses and make armies of youma cower before them?

The Guardian of Pluto ground her jaw down silently at the indignity of it all and braced for her final attack.

_"D7!" _The wizened adult exclaimed heatedly, knowing that victory and an imminent explosion was assured.

"Miss! Na na naaaa! Setsuna-Mama, you suck at this." The black haired youngster replied with that same grin she'd been wearing for the past four games in a row.

The Setsuna-mama in question gaped. It simply made no sense. She had spaced out her attacks evenly. Played the odds, and spread out across the grid. No attack touched another so she could gain optimum statistical chances for success. Yet her blue grid was filled with the red pellets of both a sunken carrier _and_submarine, while the Senshi of Saturn held a board littered with white pegs signifying Setsuna's endless misses.

"B2" The girl called jovially, dropping a shot in directly beside two guesses she had already made. One of the _least _likely places on Setsuna's entire map, for her ship to be, from Hotaru's point of view at any rate. But sure enough, a ship was there. Surrounded by misses, and guesses that the other girl had made already, Setsuna grit her teeth at the other girl's utter lack of logic. And how god-damn well it was working against her.

_"Hit." _She hissed, her tongue laced with venom. "You're cheating. You _must_ be cheating. That space was _surrounded by misses! _On _three sides!_"

The girl grinned once more. "I'm just lucky I guess."

"I'd sooner believe Chibi-usa told you the moves in advance," The green haired adult grumbled, fingering her side of the vertical board once more. "This time... this time you_ will_fall."

The girl's incessant grinning continued, causing her left cheek to tick. about the only saving grace to this particular game was that there had thus far been no witnesses, which in turn meant plausible deniability if it were ever to be publicly revealed. Her red eyes flicked back up to her adversary. "So be it. H..."

Setsuna paused as an indefinable _something_ rippled across her awareness, something that tugged at that which had sustained her for millennia... _Time._Any pretense of concern for the game before her faded from her expression as she pulled her finger away from the move she had been about to make, analyzing the feeling that echoed softly through her being.

"I'm sorry Hotaru. This'll have to wait. The oxoscape is stirring, and I'm needed at the gat-!"

'That's not fair, Setsuna-mama! the only winning move for you is not to play!" Hotaru burst, interrupting her worried thought processes.

A few moments were needed before Setsuna regained her focus. Then indignation and anger flooded through her. "This isn't a joke, Hotaru! I swear I just felt someth-!" Again she was interrupted by the increasingly self confident Senshi of the sixth planet.

"Probably the wind. All the enemies are defeated; you said it yourself! You have _no_excuse! Twenty thousand years and you just can't stand to lose, now sit down and let me destroy you!" The overzealous young girl stared her down with a scornful glare of petulance that irked Setsuna. Mostly because it was probably true; after so many years fighting though, it was difficult to stop jumping at every nuance, and Setsuna would be the first to admit that she was prone to a bit of paranoia...

But still...

"Hotaru, I haven't lived for so long by second guessing myself. You can come along if you like, to prove that I'm not just lying to get out of the game...?" Setsuna bated slyly.

Hotaru's eyes widened, her interest peaked. "You're willing to let me go to the gates of time...?"

Setsuna nodded.

"...for a board game?"

Another nod.

"Hell if I'd known it was that easy, I'd've challenged you to a game of scrabble two years ago!" The girl exclaimed giddily. She jumped up, her uniform rustling with the motion of her leap and her joyous preparation for an epic journey.

"It is _not _that easy!" Setsuna replied indignantly as she stood. _"Pluto Planet Power Makeup!"_

The words were unnecessary but the Princess of Time felt the need to showcase a bit of her power. The swirling lights of energy infused her as she flushed the synthesis with her planet, connecting herself to the true power of her own distant world. She felt the cosmos around her, and felt more strongly the influx in the timestream. _Was_ something happening? She couldn't tell. It _would_need her attention though.

"Come." She said simply, her mantle and her power sapping her voice of their congeniality. She offered her hand to the Senshi of Saturn, but pulled it back when the girl reached for her.

"Transform. The Gate of Time is not a place for mortals." She commanded with authority.

"Mortals, Shmortals!" Hotaru mimed, still quite irritated at Setsuna's timely evasion. Even so, she raised her transformation pen and stated the required words, and within moments, the mantle of Saturn rested on young Hotaru's shoulders. She held her glaive with grace, but the somber girl of olde, from when she'd had first become a Senshi, was gone. Even in her Senshi guise, Saturn had adopted the carefree and joyous attitude of the inners. Pluto herself had taken some of that unhealthy optimism, and as she watched the girl before her, she reflected on its infectiousness, letting a grin of her own grace her lips.

_Oh Usagi. How you've changed me. _She thought, transfixed on the moment. Happiness. So long had she protected the gates of time. So long had she abstained from the affairs of man that she'd forgotten what she had been truly fighting for all along. Forgotten during the dark years of her loneliness.

Forgotten... Until Usagi brought it all back.

The others had helped of course, but mostly it was Usagi. The innocent girl and her unwavering faith in the goodness of humanity. It was... inspiring. It made her want to be a better person. And most important of all, she was happy. For the first time in many a millennium she was happy.

She grabbed Hotaru's hand and turned to the girl beside her. The black haired Guardian of Saturn seemed to be holding her breath. Nervous. It was rather cute. The girl could destroy worlds. And she was nervous. Ah well. It was time Pluto started being more trustworthy. What better person to trust than her own surrogate daughter and fellow Senshi?

"Here we go. It's a bit bumpy." She murmured to the younger girl.

Saturn gulped. Cute indeed.

Pluto phased without a care, and suddenly she was at the Gates. No bumps. No rocketing transports through tunnels of light, as she could only imagine Hotaru had pictured this trip to consist of. The girl realized with a start that Setsuna-mama had lied to her and instantly regained her irritation.

"Jerk." The younger girl said with a huff.

Setsuna ignored the barb, striding through the misty enclosure towards the great fixture in the center. The twelve foot frame holding the two intricate doorways stood as majestic as it always had.

She opened the gates with learned ease and began sifting through the sutures and pinpoint calibrations that would show her the anomaly she'd felt in the streams. Hotaru looked bedazzled. The gates, mistily archaic and technologically advanced beyond anything this world had seen or would ever again see, they could inspire awe in a god.

"Well, what's the problem Setsuna-mama?" The young girl asked chagrined as she approached and began to hover over the green haired woman's shoulder.

Setsuna grit her teeth. Moments and minutes of tedious searching through her various trip wires and systems showed her a result that simply could not be. There was no anomaly. Nothing had gone forward or backwards in time that was visible to her. If something _had_come back in time than she would have certainly been warned. And none of her trip wires were signaling any alarm. No. The only concrete proof she had that something was meddling with time was her own gut instinct.

But she'd _felt_ a disturbance. Could it have been her imagination?

_God I hope not. _The aged Senshi thought with horror. _But... if it was an anomaly..._

Setsuna could always _make sure_. The only problem was that it took hours and hours of endless study of the most minute blips and swerves in the patterns of time. She had to pinpoint a location in the galaxy. Then she had to pinpoint the exact moment that had been touched. Then she had to discover who. And once all of that was done she was forced to speculate on the _why _someone was meddling. Worst of all it could be just another accidental mixture of the chromos and phlexiar. Whenever the two elements mixed they always tended to make time spikes that sent her into a frenzy...

"So what's the problem mama?" Saturn asked with a painfully childish drawl.

"I'm sorry Hotaru. Something is wrong. A minute disturbance in the flow of time that might be a warning. I'm going to have to suspend our game for-!"

"As if!" The young woman exploded with a hiss, staring at Setsuna her posture the picture of an affronted schoolgirl. "I can't believe you would fake an emergency just to get out of a game!"

Setuna blinked. "Hotaru this might be a legitimate threat! That's just-!"

Hotaru ignored her. "I know you've lost to Usagi, Rei, Minako and Ami already, but seriously, Setsuna-mama!" The girl taunted with surprisingly effective arrows of accusation that punctured right through Setsuna's pride.

The green-haired woman grinned. The anomaly was minor. It was probably just some chance mixture of elements. Or maybe her future self playing around with the gates. She doubted it was anything important, and for once, she abandoned her duty. She didn't want to spend the next three days worrying about some miniscule blip. Plus, her pride was wounded. Time would have to flow without her for this once.

"Oh really now! Well then how about a new game?"

Hotaru sighed. "This is sad, Mama."

"I'll show you sad! Timegates! Load entertainment archives!"

A short chime of rising notes was played, followed by the automated voice of the time gates loading a segment of program that probably hadn't been used in centuries. "Let us play a game."

Setsuna flashed the Senshi of Silence a winning grin, her eyes blazing with the knowledge of a sure victory after wounded pride.

"Let's play Global Thermal Nuclear War."

* * *

Akane Tendo could not stop starring at the slip of paper in her hands. It was... it was sterling. It was a masterful drawing the likes of which she had never seen. None of the art club had ever drawn anything so remarkable. But here, slipped out of Ranma Saotome's very bag, was a drawing of her.

Nabiki had taken pictures that were work works of art...

Kasumi had cooked meals that were beyond compare...

...And apparently Ranma could draw with a skill to match.

That of course didn't make sense though. Ranma had the worst scrawl of any person she'd ever known. He'd drawn little stick figures and doodled in his notebooks since the first day she'd ever met him. And that was only if he wasn't sleeping straight through classes.

The idea that he could've created this...? Impossible.

The most disturbing part about the hand-drawn image was that it was of her. A sketch of her face staring off into the distance, a sunny smile greeting her disposition. It was... flattering really.

But if Ranma drew this, then why keep it a secret? It wasn't like the boisterous martial artist to hide a talent, considering until now she'd only known of one major one. It was definitely a mystery. One that she intended to get to the bottom of.

* * *

Ranma-chan walked an easy pace home. Her time spent in the other world might not have passed in realtime but Ranma's mind had felt it. Her body felt... well undeniably powerful next to the overwhelming weakness of Raya's but at the same time it was a body she had not worn for a month, in her mind. In the other world, she had not fought... at all really. Sparring with Ryoga happened whenever they could manage to do so in secret but both of them had promised not to fight.

_Boy _did she regret _that._

Her reflexes were off, her timing screwy, and even her balance was having some problems. In male form, these things nearly doubled. So instead of running on the fence, she took the path home at an easy stroll to make certain she didn't fall into the canal.

It wasn't like the body felt foreign. Not that, but after so long without combat she was unused to the thought of being jumped and needing to react at a moment's notice. It _was_like riding a bike. You never forgot how, but sometimes the chains and gears got rusty and needed a bit of oil.

What she needed, was a good old fashioned life or death battle! A good spar with a person who wanted her blood but wasn't _quite_skilled enough to actually get it. Which was why the Anything Goes Martial Arts heir was slowly wandering her way towards home on a route that took her particularly close to the Nekohaunten.

"Face thy doom, Saotome!" Mousse's shout echoed across the street and before she could think, Ranma's feet reacted.

A quick leap sent her out of the devastating reach of a ball and chain, which crushed the fence into the metal equivalent of kindling behind her. A few swift flips in midair were enough to weave around the razor yoyos protruding from the white-clad martial artist's sleeves, and finally she ducked beneath one of the thrown swords, caught the other, and prepared to brandish it against her opponent with a grin.

"Howdy, Mousse! Long time no see!" She said turning around to face the hidden weapons master.

"I've got you now, Sao-urk!"

Ranma blinked as Mousse finally came into view.

_That _was unusual.

Looking towards the boy who'd been attacking her, Ranma spotted his prone body lying on the ground, clearly unconscious. A large comical welt only added to the humor as she realized that someone had stopped the battle before it even began.

She bristled. Well there went _that_training opportunity.

Her eyes spotted a black cane lying face down in the stone, and she recognized it as the object that must've incapacitated her would-be opponent. Following the line of trajectory from Mousse's swollen face, her eyes found a tall, dark-haired man who appeared to be in his early twenties.

Boring-ass black hair complimented an equally black college uniform that looked vaguely similar to her Chinese tangs, if much more formal. Black pants, and a white undershirt adorned the man and he carried a briefcase of all things.

"Sorry to interrupt." He said with a smile and a wave. "You probably didn't need the help but what kind of man would I be if I let a girl be attacked when I could do something about it?"

Again a well of bubbly, unbearably girly thoughts sprung to mind. White princes, and heroes in the night coming to rescue damsels in distress and all that other goey crap that Raya was so addicted to. This time though, Ranma was prepared. She quashed Raya's thoughts, vaguely catching words like _sumptuous! _and _my hero!_before she was able to completely eliminate them.

"Suppose I can't fault you for that." Ranma replied irritably, making absolutely certain that none of Raya's emotions crept onto her facial expression. "But I was looking for a sparring partner and Mousse there was just the ticket. Now you've gone and ruined it."

The man cocked an easy eyebrow and then shrugged. "He seemed a bit angry for a sparring partner."

Ranma gave him a confused look. "How are they supposed to be?"

The black haired college student gave Ranma a half lidded gaze. "Really? You're telling me you've never had a spar with someone who wasn't angry?"

Ranma thought about it for a moment. Well, yes she had fought a few people when they weren't angry. Some of the worst fights she'd ever participated in, though. The first time she'd met Akane came to mind. Herb she supposed but he got angry as time passed. And still wanted to kill her, so there was that.

_That tea ceremony crap. Yeah. That was a barrel of fun._

Hmm. Kuno fought his girl side without caring to actually hurt her. And that was another one of the reasons she hated the dumbass.

_No he's NOT cute Raya_! Ranma halted the girl mid thought before she even had the time to finish it. _He is an obsessive maniac and you will never, ever, EVER act on those... horrible... feelings you have for him!_

She could feel Raya pouting. But as Ranma's eyes turned back to the black haired man the feelings of discontent subsided, only to be replaced with another gushy wave. _Gawd-damn!_

"Well yeah, I guess I've had a few fights like that. All of 'em sucked though." The redhead replied giving the man a sidelong look. "Don't suppose you'd be willing to try to make up for that? Anyone who can knock ole' Mousse out with a throwing weapon can't be _too _bad.

"If you wish. I-!"

The beep of a cell phone from the man's pocket blared in a rather girly tone, interrupting whatever he had been about to say. He pulled out an object that was _not _a cell phone at all. It turned out it was the frilliest looking _watch_that Ranma had ever seen. Of course, Raya wanted one nearly instantly.

The man gave a sad shake of the head, staring at whatever the watch was telling him with a telling sense of loss. "Sorry. I will have to pass for now. But if you're up for it, meet me around eleven tomorrow, say the lot just south of the park, and I'll spar then?"

Ranma shrugged once more. "In the morning? Eh, okay. Guess it's a deal. Hope you're good."

"Till then, M'lady."

Ranma was about to growl, but to her great surprise, the student seemed to nearly vanish from her eyesight. Only her years of training allowed her to follow the boy's trajectory as he sped across the sidewalk.

"Hey!" She called after him. "What's your name!"

He slowed a bit, but only enough for him to turn and run backwards for a few steps. "Mamoru! Mamoru Chiba!"

The boy continued running. Curiously, he seemed completely uninterested in her name.

_Hmm. Well that was interesting. _The red-head thought.

* * *

"Prepare to die, Saotome!"

_God that phrase never gets old. _Thought the gender cursed individual as battle was _finally_ initiated once again.

The punch blazed as a right hook that probably would have taken the Ranma's head off if she were a normal person... or Raya. As it was Ranma had finally gotten the fight she was looking for half an hour later when Ryoga stumbled through a wall, caught sight of her and charged in like a rabid bull.

The martial arts heir was down and under the fist with a smirk, slamming her own into his ribcage with a _fully functional _chestnut fist that caused the lost boy to grunt, but little else. Much as she wanted to linger, there was a hard kick about ready to make her personal acquaintance and she dodged out, leaving her opponent to reassemble his guard and glare at her.

"I've seen Pluto because of you, Ranma!"

That part made the redhead blink, since she had seen Pluto too, but didn't stop her from evading the heavy handed combination that ultimately ended up destroying the light fixture behind her. The metal pole crumpled and tumbled over like a felled log as Ranma considered a painful reprisal... A thought that made her feel surprisingly guilty courtesy of her subconscious passenger.

"Well it ain't my fault we were on Pluto!" Ranma retorted, spending the next five minutes pulling her punches in order to avoid the larger stabs of mental guilt Raya was radiating from the back of her mind. Still, the eddies of concern were distracting and the few punches Ryoga managed to land told her the same thing was probably happening to him as well.

"Dammit, yes it is Saotome!" The lost boy balked and punched a single finger into the pavement she had only recently back out of, showering the alleyway with fragmentation and dust. Ranma evaded the blacktop easily enough, but the debris allowed Ryoga to burst out of the cloud to re-engage her in hand to hand combat. It also gave her an excellent view of the fanged scowl on his face. "Everything's your fault!"

Ranma profiled right and Ryoga overreached. It was an opportunity that all but begged any martial artist worth their salt to exploit to its fullest and the redhead wanted to _so badly_. From that opening, she could neutralize the arm, joint lock it, cut inside, and basically dismantle the pig boy piece by piece. He probably wouldn't stay down, but her rival sure as hell wouldn't be so gung ho about chasing her up and down the street afterwards. He'd start to take things more cautiously and that would make for a better fight.

And then the moment passed. Ryoga's guard rose and he readied himself for another volley.

"Arrrgh!" Ranma fumed at the spotlight of guilt that had prevented her from fully taking advantage of the over extension and settled for driving her elbow into his face instead, causing Ryoga to reel with the impact. Even that produced its own echoes of displeasure from her mental passenger, but Ranma rationalized the blow as the only concession she was willing to make and snapped back at her opponent. "Look, I ain't gonna-"

"Ranma!" The redhead's eyes widened as her attention jerked over to Akane standing in the mouth of the alley with a rather perturbed expression on her face. The lapse in attention also provided an opening the size a semi-truck to drive through, but he capitalize on it no more effectively than Ranma had hers due to the incessant, non-stop nagging from within his own conscious; not to mention doubly paralyzed now that Akane was actually present.

"Why are you fighting with Ryoga again?"

"I'm not fighting!" Ranma bit back on reflex, pulling away from Ryoga. "Sisters don't fight!"

Akane's mouth opened to verbally fillet the pigtailed girl, only to have her voice fail as she processed the rebuke that made absolutely no sense. "Sisters don't _what?_"

Ranma began to blink rapidly as what she said actually registered. Even Ryoga was looking at her with a strange look and Ranma could do little more than stumble over her rapidly deteriorating train of thought over the mental lapse. "I... erm... eh..."

Both watched Ranma scuff her shoes against the dirt and stared at them with an unusual amount of humility for the ego they knew as belonging to Ranma Saotome, perplexing Akane even further. After a moment, she scrunched her eyes, not even wanting to know. "Whatever. Stop picking on poor Ryoga or I'll have to pound you."

Ranma rolled her eyes with a sigh and eyed the lost boy edgily, who in turn eyed her.

Akane walked away in a huff heading back towards her home ignoring the two boys and their weirdness. Idly, she fingered the piece of paper in her pocket depicting herself... and she wondered.

Once the girl was out of sight the two turned to each other. One held a defeated layer of shame draped around heavy shoulders like a cloak, while the other practically exuded superiority complex. Curiously, the roles were for once reversed.

"Wow, Saotome. I've seen you do some stupid shit... but that was by far the-!"

"Shut it, pig-breath.. Not like you were fighting at yer best either. I saw the punches you pulled. Rena batting away at your conscience, too?" Ranma replied with a glare trying to change the subject.

The fanged boy would have none of it. He fingered his bandana with a snicker. "Wasn't talking about the fight. Heh. Sisters huh?"

"Shaddup." Ranma toned again without much attention. She was too busy mentally flaying Raya Aukomino with a metaphorical flame thrower, about a thousand knives, and several hundred separate chestnut fists.

Idly the red-head turned and began to follow the footsteps Akane had taken out of sight. An aura of depression clouded over her and she let herself wallow in it for a while. Home, she realized, was turning out to be just as much of a letdown as the future had been. Once again, she'd been thwarted in her quest for a good fight. And once again, Raya was to blame.

Ryoga stepped in beside her and they fell into an easy pace. "Any ideas?" The lost boy asked his tone now bereft of any of the earlier rage. All of it had been quenched in light of Ranma's misery and Rena's own piteous emotions that seemed to be flooding out like the water of a collapsed dam.

"Rena's still going insane in my head. Probably why I can't stay mad at you right now... And obviously Raya's still around." He commented with a sort of offhanded ease.

"Yeah." Ranma replied, her voice grave.

"That bad, huh?" Ryoga asked, feeling Rena's pity swell even further inside him. He reluctantly gave in to it to appease the girl's conscience.

"She _likes_ _Kuno." _The pigtailed martial artist stopped to meet Ryoga's eyes with a hard stare, just to convey the seriousness of how bad this awful situation was. Then she continued walking on.

Ryoga stopped in his tracks. Then broke down into helpless, _unquenchable _laughter.

Not for the first time, Ryoga thanked the White Queen for his good luck in getting such a sensible girl stuck in his head. Looking at Ranma, for once he figured his life could've been worse. He felt a flush of gratitude at the thought, and for once didn't feel embarrassed about complimenting a girl. It was true, wasn't it? Rena was sensible. Even better, she didn't seem to care in the least about boys, let alone be interested them.

At this thought there was a bit of indigence. Ryoga felt certain the phrase 'more important things' crossed the confines of his mind more than once. Either way he felt confident that the girl was starting to get along with him. At least a little.

_Poor Ranma though._

Ryoga blinked. Where in god's name had _that_ thought come from? For that matter, '_Thank the White Queen?'_

"Come on Ryoga. I need a good fight so bad it hurts. I'm rusty, and I can't imagine you're doing very well, either." The heir to the anything goes school said without looking back.

Ryoga shrugged. "Doubt they're going to let us now... but we might as well try."

"Right." Ranma replied.

* * *

"So, what do we know?" Ranma asked. He sat Indian-style in the center of the dojo, and Ryoga mirrored him. "We know that we lived on Pluto and that the other planets were all habitable. Uhm... We were apparently the grand-children of one of the leaders." He answered his own question slowly.

Sparring had been a bust. Nearly every opening, every punch that wanted to be exploited failed. Raya wanted no part of fighting her sister and each pang of guilt made Ranma less and less interested in the prospect, to her own undying dismay. Ryoga, clearly, was feeling similar effects. The bond between these two sisters, no matter how they bickered when Ryoga and Ranma let them get away with it, was stronger than crystal.

So now both of them sat, idly picking at their unusual adventure and trying to comprehend what was happening to the both of them, and their unlikely passengers.

"Well, I'm pretty sure it was just the two of us. No one else we know seemed to come along with. Would've been nice to have Akane in the future with us..." Ryoga trailed off into a daydream prompting Ranma to rap him on the forehead with her knuckles.

"Ow!" The lost boy cried but was largely ignored.

"People seem to be pretty much immortal there. The oldest person I met was that lady who likes to throw water on the sidewalk. She said she was over seven thousand!" Ranma supplied in light of Ryoga's idiocy.

"I can't believe that damn tradition is still alive." Ryoga cursed slowly.

Back to seriousness, Ranma thought Ryoga did have a pretty good point, despite his stupid daydream. They hadn't met any other unlikely time travelers, either here or in the future. Ranma sighed. "Alright, so do we know how far in the future? I mean, we ain't got anything like those transport pads, let alone the instant learning."

"Or being able to micronize a small Naquida reactor. That sure would help..." Ryoga added absently, causing Ranma to stare again. When it was obvious the Lost Boy hadn't noticed, nor was going to quantify his own slip, Ranma simply shook his head.

"Yeah, that too." Ranma rolled his eyes. "So all of that's probably a way out there."

Ranma watched the boy nod silently for a moment, sporting an almost impossibly thoughtful look before replying to Ranma's theory. "I think it's all really far in the future."

After the out of place thoughtfulness on Ryoga's face, Ranma was a tad put out by the results. "Yeah, I got that already."

"No, you don't understand," Ryoga focused on him with more intensity. "I'm talking _really super far_. Rena doesn't even seem to recognize the date when I mention it and you know damn well she's smarter than all three of us and everybody at Nerima combined!"

'Really super far was' pretty vague in Ranma's opinion and she pressed him for the detail. "Any specifics on the 'really super far' part?"

"Dammit, I don't know!" Ryoga retorted as he began to simmer for being asked questions he had no rightful answer to. "The only thing I'm getting is something about before the Second Fall, whatever that means."

Ranma annoyance vanished as a sudden well spring of uncertainty bubbled forth from feelings most definitely not born from her own. She took a moment to analyze them before trying to put them into words. "If that's the case, it's pushin' all sorts of buttons with Raya. No idea how that's significant, but I sure as hell don't like the idea of a Second Fall all wrote up in capital letters like she's-"

Ranma's eyes suddenly lost focus as the knowledge inexplicably found itself visited itself upon her conscious mind.

_The Second Fall: A time of strife. The Usurper took his mindless loyalists and began a campaign to end the rightful rule of the White Queen. Billions of deaths resulted across the entire galaxy. Those who followed the Betrayer of Light attacked an unsuspecting populous on every one of the inner planets..._

The Anything Goes heir blinked, and he instantly noted Ryoga staring expectantly at him. Ranma took a breath to recenter himself against the sudden information dump. The memory came with a sudden and nearly unbearable influx of terror that suffused through Raya's conscience and filled him. He quashed it like he did many of Raya's emotions but this one left him feeling edgy. "Uh, yeah. Well that ain't good."

"What did you find out?" Ryoga asked, already knowing that unfocused gaze so well that he didn't even have to question.

"The Second Fall... Billions of Deaths... all at the hand of one man and his mad quest for the White Queen's throne." The pigtailed fighter said reverently, more to himself than to the other boy across from him.

"Damn. Figures though. Such a perfect society like that? I mean, you think that wasn't built on a few deaths?" Ryoga asked congenially.

"I suppose..." Ranma replied. "They call the guy the Betrayer of Light. Raya's practically terrified of him. Pretty bold statement, but it might be accurate. Think about it. In the entire time we were there did you ever here one _single_bad thing said about the Empress? Maybe she's like some divinity that comes to rule? Amaterasu, that shit."

Ryoga thought about it for a moment. Then he shook his head. "You're right. I can't remember anyone thinking badly about her. That is pretty weird. Then again... the place is a paradise. Did you see a homeless? Did you see _anyone_ with a life that has a tenth the troubles of mine? Hell most of 'em even had it better than _you_, Saotome. Maybe the betrayer was really just an ass. Like someone I know..."

The pigtailed boy wasn't alone in harboring a nugget of resentment towards his interior host. Ryoga, too, was aching for the battle that his eighteen years of life had raised him to consider not only enjoyable, but necessary for survival. But, since insulting or antagonizing his passenger provided no fruit for his rage to munch on, he targeted the usual recipient of his anger.

Ignoring the barb, it was Ranma's turn to think and he rubbed the back of his head straining for a reason. "I dunno. I guess he must've been close to the Queen, otherwise he wouldn't be called "Betrayer."

Ryoga shook his head in frustration. "This is pointless! How is this going to help us get Rena and Raya back home? I just want to be done with this crap!"

Ranma sighed. "You and me both. I'd about kill for a decent fight right now... and I don't think I could convince her to let me hit you again."

Ryoga grumbled. "Same..."

"Well, I guess we're still playing the waiting game. Someone's got to have done this. Maybe it _did _happen back here."

"Happosai?" Ryoga asked curiously, knowing of the old man's penchant for the wild and senseless. But Ranma refuted it quickly.

"I don't think so. This is way to elaborate for him, and whatever mischief he gets into is usually accidental. I think someone did this to us intentionally and now they're just sitting around watching us dance and laughing." Ranma replied seriously. "I'm don't like it."

His words were echoed by the sentiment given off by Raya in her mind.

Ryoga contemplated that, and sighed. "We know anything else? Maybe we're supposed to do something back here. Hell, if the White Queen is as old as they say, maybe she was alive even during this time."

Ranma blinked. "That's... possible. Thanks Rena." Ranma deliberately pronounced the girl's name with a smirk.

Ryoga growled.

"Well all of the planets have a patron. We're the granddaughter of Pluto... weird that we never met 'er in the whole time we were there though. Meh. Suppose she's busy ruling the planet and all." He posed the thought quietly. "Is it possible they're all around now?"

The lost boy's eyes glassed over at the comment, and Ranma waited patiently.

"Rena has... met one of them." Ryoga replied, changing his tone in the middle for some reason Ranma noted but didn't understand. "Rena is awestruck by Mercury. There is a story that she destroyed an attacking outerworld battalion of over four hundred and fifty Quarion Powered Space Nautaleii, using her mind. That and she's the single greatest inventor and scientist in the entire galaxy. Rena met her in one of the family trips. They vacationed to a... heh heh... a hot-springs resort on Mercury, and the patron herself happened to be there. Rena has her autograph."

"REALLY?" Ranma exclaimed with enthusiasm that wasn't her own. "WHEN, WHY, Howdidyouge-!" Ranma stopped the torrent of girlish squeals by clapping his hands over his mouth. His cheeks flushed with embarrassment but a good portion of his physic wanted to continue yelling at the lost boy, Raya's emotion having stolen his tongue.

Ryoga grinned. "Yeah. Rena's pretty miffed that I told you. Figured you'd react like that. It was on a vacation Raya chose not to go on. I... I can't remember why."

Another mind dump filled Ranma in on the missing information as soon as the words left the fanged-fighter's mouth but this time something different happened. Three different memories had come to Ranma's mind already during this conversation alone. He remembered them as if he'd done them himself. He felt the rage of such a lost opportunity. He felt near overwhelming fan-worship for the patron of Venus, and an impressive bit of jealousy that Rena got to meet her hero. Then came hurt, at the fact that Rena had kept it secret.

And with that emotion, for a moment, he wasn't Ranma. Instead, he was someone else entirely. Someone far different from the Saotome whose skin he wore.

"A meta-artistics class. I missed out on meeting one of the galaxy's patrons for a stupid meta-art class! _Dammit_Rena why didn't you tell me!" Raya asked, a goodly portion of both feminine rage and hurt channeling through Ranma's masculine voice.

"H-hey! It's not my fault you didn't want to go. You said Mercury was too sciency! It'd be filled with nerds!" Ryoga responded.

"I can't believe you didn't _tell_ me though! How could you... hang on a sec." Raya stopped mid rant and produced a bucket of water from nowhere, and dumped it upon himself without pause, her voice becoming feminine and . "Now, how could you! Why would you keep the fact that you _met Mercury _a secret!"

"I... she thought it would make you angry! She didn't want you to be mad at her... I mean, it's not like you get to meet one of the patrons every day." Ryoga commented. "Every millennia more like..."

Raya was pacified by this a bit, but her glares pervaded Ryoga's consoling measures. "Still, I can't believe you'd keep something like that a secret... at least it wasn't Venus. You... didn't meet Venus too...? Did you, Rena?"

"Well now I've seen everything." Came a foreign voice from the dojo's entrance. Ryoga and Raya's eyes snapped to the door and found the middle Tendo leaning casually against the side of the wall.

"I come to the dojo expecting to find you two fighting as usual, and instead you're talking teen girl's magazines." Nabiki Tendo scoffed with a grin as she smiled at the two.

They blanched. "Wh-what?"

The middle Tendo laughed, certain she'd caught the two in the middle of their most embarrassing fiasco yet. "Oh come on. You don't have to hide it. You're both fans of the Sailor Senshi!"

The boy and quasi-girl eyed each other for only a moment before coming to a nearly instant consensus.

"The Senshi?" They questioned simultaneously. "Who're they?"

And Nabiki Tendo suddenly found herself on the questioning side of two unusually curious boys. As always she smiled. "Four thousand yen."

The martial artists paid.

* * *

Ranma stood at the appointed spot, waiting for the random boy that Raya couldn't stop thinking of, still irritated about the events of the night before.

_Can't believe we paid 4,000 yen for what we could've learned from ten minutes of watching TV. _Thought the angry redhead as she tapped her foot.

They had paid the middle Tendo for information on the Sailor Senshi, scrounging up almost every yen between the two of them to afford her rates, and when they'd finally pooled all their coins into the middle Tendo's greedy hand's the girl had only given them one sentence.

"Channel thirty seven. Go watch." The girl laughed at them.

The Senshi, or Sailor Scouts as they were more commonly known, were a group of vigilantes whose names eerily mirrored the patrons of planets that would arise in the far far future.

Coincidence?

Neither of the two had thought so.

The worst part about the whole experience was trying to explain to a more and more suspicious Akane, why they had sat down in the living room together to watch a teen girl's channel. Especially after Raya's slip earlier that day.

But the new morning had come. Ranma's father had awakened her by tossing her into the pond and their battle had been more one sided than ever. Genma had handed her ass to her without even trying and she was hard pressed to explain why.

Even so, the battle had been cathartic and now she was ready for another one. Raya hadn't had any compunctions about hitting the monstrous and supremely ugly form of Ranma's father, but the redhead could only hope the girl's reserve would hold true for Mamoru. And now she was tapping her foot in impatience all of her own making. Mamoru wasn't late. No for once she was _early._ She'd spent the walk here trying to convince Raya that the black-haired boy would _enjoy_fighting her and that she shouldn't care about hitting him.

"Hey! You did make it!"

The voice came from behind her and Ranma turned. The boy she'd seen yesterday now wore a short-sleeved plain white tee-shirt and a pair of shorts. He was well toned but not exceptionally so, and Ranma's eyes trailed off him nearly instantly to the far more interesting person he'd come with

Shouting into the black haired boy's ear beside him...

...was the splitting image of the white queen, twin blonde tails trailing down to her feet and swirling as if carried by an unnatural wind.

Through Raya's mind, the litany almost escaped Ranma's suddenly dry lips. _"I live only to serve the Queen, blessed may she live forever."_

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Well not quite as far as we were aiming for but this was decently long. 12k is enough to let you all know Anarchists is still alive.

Hah hah. Sorry about the cliffie! Again, not as far as we wanted to get but I think it's a pretty good lead in to where we're going with the fic. Don't worry. The future is gone, but not forgotten. We will be returning soon.

Feel free to drop a review.

Till Next!  
MB & Ozz


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